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

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

Has anybody out there had recent contact with William Donzelli? I've got two e-mail addresses for him, and both bounce. And it looks like he hasn't posted anything to classiccmp for nearly a month... Bill.

26 years, 9 months

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Which backup program is this?

by mark_k＠iname.com

Hi, Some time ago I posted about an old Sony 650MB 5.25" MO drive that I acquired. I have now cleaned all the disks, and it seems to be working fine. Anyway, most of the disks that came with the drive contain old backups. I'm not sure which backup program was used to create the backups. I would like to find out, because hopefully then I can snoop through them more easily than having to use a disk editor. There seems to be various source code and other things on there. In the hope that someone here can point me in the right direction, here is some brief info about the backups. The backup program probably ran under OS/2. Sectors 0 to 3 inclusive contain: "MDIELS4" in ASCII 25 zero bytes a date in ASCII, e.g. "Tue Jan 12 08:48:26 1993" 0x0a, 0x00 "mondayb" in ASCII (this may be some backup ID assigned by the operator) the remainder of sectors 0-3 are all zero bytes Sector 4 begins with "MDIVOLID" in ASCII. The next significant thing is at start of sector 256: 0xEB, 0x3C, 0x90 "MDI 4.0" in ASCII. Any ideas? -- Mark

26 years, 9 months

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Tossing

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

>> Anyway, Macs are prety neat to stack (especialy the classic ones), >> and should form a neat wall (maybe for seperation between dining >> room and kitchen ?) or can be used as base for a desk etc. >> >> (I just havn't enough to proove it) > > I've tested this hypothesis in the lab and have concluded that they do not > stack well. They are angled slightly at the top. With enough Macs you > could build a suspension bridge, but I wouldn't drive a car over it. Suspension bridge? I take it you mean an arch bridge... The way to build a wall is to stack them not all the same way round. The most stable method is probably LRRLLRRLL..., but LRLRLR would probably work (L and R meaning Macs facing Left and Right respectively) Philip.

26 years, 9 months

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core... more

by allisonp＠world.std.com

Well thanks to John D. I have a bunch of cores from the early 60s. They are roughly 50mils x 11 mils x 15mils. Cross section of the doughnut is rectangular at 15x11 mils. The reason for such rough measurements is my vernier is only good to .001" and I'd need somthing fancier to be more accurate. By eyeball the 8e cores are smaller! Based on several articles I've read theses will need about 400->600ma to switch and will do so in under 4uS. I will have to test this in a jig. Since the hole is ~20mils several #40 wires should pass through it easily. A simple core frame would be 8x8 (64 bits) and use a 4 wire system as that simplifies the select, inhibit and sense hardware. I'd likely go with late 70s level TTL and transistors to drive these and to sense the outputs I don't know if I'll use transistors (1968 or earlier designs) or comparator chips (aka 1540, 710, 711) will be used. They would also be consistant with 1970s technology. The goal if I can get the time is a 64x8 or 64x12 memory. Not large but enough. Why 64? becuase 1 of 8 decoders were common even in 1970, and the larger the array the more noise from switching. So 8x8 is manageable. Allison

26 years, 9 months

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core... more

by wrm＠ccii.co.za

Hi Chuck and all >Could somebody *please* scan this article in and post a URL to it? (I'll >host it if it doesn't have web space (and I can scan it too if someone has >the issue to loan or can make a good copy of it)) This just so happens to be one of the three BYTEs of that era that I own. They're water damaged but readable. http://ccii.dockside.co.za/~wrm/byte And that goes over a 33K analog leased line shared by 20 people, so be patient... :-) Wouter

26 years, 9 months

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Honeywell Bull

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

>> >Of course Honeywell Bull also sold some odd-ball systems to go with their >> >Mainframes. My favorite being a "HoneyMac". I believe these all had the >> >original manufacturers name on them still though. [...] > Before those they had some really funky IBM PC's, the only reason they were > preferable to the big read boxes they called terminals was because the > keyboards were better, and the screen was easier to read. I remember a system called "Micro System Executive", which was based on a design >from Future Technology Systems, a company that Honeywell bought. I have an FTS-86 somewhere (probably mostly Honeywell with the amount of board swapping that went on) which I must get working... FTS sold this machine as "The non-compatible compatible". It was not IBM compatible. You could have 896K bytes of main memory, rather than 640. It ran Concurrent CPM, not (MS) DOS. And yet Lotus 123 would load straight of an IBM disk and draw graphs and things with no hassle... Philip.

26 years, 9 months

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Stuff I found at Dayton

by cfandt＠netsync.net

Here's a bit of a report of what I found at the Hamvention. I was there on Friday from about 09:15 to 17:30 except lunch for which we went off the grounds and on Saturday from about 08:00 to 13:30. Therefore with my method of checking every promising box and poking around under tables I saw about 3/4 of the whole fleamarket. I was looking for quite a variety of things -not just old computers. Stuff I dragged home were two DG Ones (model 2208A), two DG printers which go with them (model 2230), one AC power supply and one printer cable all for $15; VMEbus boards including one unopened Force Computers SYS68Y DRAM-2 memory board ($5) and four Motorola CODEX boards, $15; an IOMEGA Ditto Easy 3200 external tape drive (Travan 3) with cable and power supply, $25. And my best find of all: a virtually mint, seemingly unused HP9000/300 computer with 7958B hard drive (150 Mb IIRC) and 9144A 16-track tape drive. A label on the 98574 CPU module indicated it's been upgraded to a 375 which is just about the ultimate of the 300-series. A 68030 processor running at 50MHz and 16 Mb of RAM. Nice! I've been casually looking for one of the 300's for a couple of years. My ex-colleague who's an engineering manager from my ex-company's German parent company told me last week when he visited the house that an HP 9000/332 system was promised to me and will be shipped to me from their Chicago facility late this year. My new 9000/375 system was built into a 19" rack enclosure which was in turn bolted into a fiberglas transit case about 3' tall, 2' wide by about 2.5' deep. It was part of a military surplus system. I did not get a chance to find the AN system designation on the rack or case, just that it weighed 97 pounds and required two persons to carry. Apparently it had been built and not used *ever*. Just stuck in a military warehouse probably as a result of a military contract which didn't go anywhere or as a result of the Cold War ceasing or something. I absolutely cannot see *any* dust on the leading edges of the fan blades so this system has maybe only an hour or two at most of operation :) SNs are from mid-89. There's a Federal Stock Number or system part number rubber stamped onto the right side of the computer box. A probably earlier FSN or contractor's PN has been blacked out with paint (about 3/8" x 1.5" strip) and the present number rubber stamped onto the case after the upgrade to the 375 model was done. A little ugly, but what the hey! It shows a bit about the original purpose of the machine. That's the only indication of any special use of it. The update was done in December '91 according to a date handwritten on the CPU board tag inside. I was passing by the previous owner's space when I overheard one of the guys asking "What is it?" as they were taking the cover off the 7958B box to try and figure out just what *it* was. I looked and saw the main box was a 300 system (Whoa!! Let's stop and look!), became interested and checked it out. I offered an explanation as to what it was, what it was usually used for, typical processors used in the 300's, etc. Apparently the then-new owner who'd just dragged it to his space from a nearby surplus dealer didn't see a use for it for himself and offered the HP 9000 items to me and I paid him nearly all the remaining money I had to spend: $40 for all three boxes. He kept the transit case and 19" rack which bolted inside as he had a use for it back at home in Houston. He didn't recognize at first when he bought the whole transit case (for $50) that those 3 HP boxes which were clamped onto rack slide plates were actually a computer. He was happy somebody got it who knew what it was and could use it and he was happy to have the transit case. I love happiness :-) Only thing I had to promise him was to email him with what I found on the disk. He's a UNI* system admin and had enough UNI* machines of his own. I'm surprised he hadn't seen an HP 9000 machine before but these 300's were obsolete some time ago and he indicated he was always an Intel-based UNI* user. I've got a copy of HP-UX 7.0 on tape with the license, both still shrinkwrapped, and manual set that I've had for some time. Now I've got a machine to hang it upon! :) BTW, ver. 7.0 is near or at the end of HP-UX support for the 300's. Have BASIC-UX ver. 5.0 w/license and docs too! The keyboard and monitor were some sort of rugged, militarized things built into an operator's station. The fellow who had it never got from the surplus dealer as it obviously didn't quite interest him and maybe he didn't realize what it was. If it's what I *think* I saw an hour or so earlier at a surplus dealer's space not far away it definitelly wasn't the normal HP keyboard as it was part of some other section of the system used as the operations console and was connected via AN/MS connectors and cables. Have absolutely no idea as to the function of the whole system. If there's something on the hard disk when it comes up it may give me a good clue. But I gotta get it lit up first. So, does anybody have a very decent looking keyboard and HP-HIL k'bd cable they're willing to sell to me? Keyboard model *I think* should be a 46020 or 46021 or a 98203C. I don't know the exact differences as I have no pictures or specs. but they are mentioned in the "Peripheral Installation Guide for the HP 9000 Series 200/300", which I have had for some time, as being used with the 300-series. I'll post a separate request for a k'brd and other info in a separate msg. later today or tomorrow. Need feet for bottom of the boxes too but probably large stick-on rubber feet should be okay. I've got two old non-HP fixed frequency monitors I'll drag out of the garage and try after I get a k'bd. The video interface card is a 98547A which is not mentioned in the Periph. Inst. Guide. I saw a few DEC items: A rather lonely RL02 standing amongst a bunch of fairly new amateur gear; a VT320 and VT 420 with a few of DEC's serial cables; a couple of AUI-to-BNC translator modules for $10 each (Too much? Just right?) and little else that I could see. Bought a couple more Ethernet NICs for $10 new (Intel 8/16); 3.5-to-5.25" floppy adaptors for $1 each; 25' CAT5 cables for $3 each; "The Hard Disk Technical Guide", "The Modem Tech. Guide", and "The Network Tech. Guide" all w/CDROMs, published by Micro House, for $5 each; misc. cables and bits. Hard disks were even cheaper than I'd ever seen but had no extra bucks to spend, dang it. Also saw a pallet full (4' x 4' x 5' high) of Sun SPARC LX boxen; a Grid computer, don't know exact model as I don't know Grids, but I'd wager it was early. No model # on bottom or back. It weighed a ton it seemed, painted black. Guy wanted $30 but by then I was flat broke by then :( ; lots of C64 and C128 machines and accessories; tons of PeeCee stuff of all ages and condx; pallets full of printers and monitors; lots of IBM MicroChannel machines and boards; several HP Vectras; boxes of network stuff of varying conditions and types; boxes of shrinkwrapped software; bunches of other stuff I can't recall at the moment. Lots and lots of amateur radio gear of course. I wish I had more money to spend there dang it! Importantly, I did score a few really hard to find parts for the WWII BC-191F transmitter I'm trying to restore plus a few military connectors for some gear in the collection; also got a couple of test equipment manuals for units I have in the collection. Still wish I had more $$$ so I could get more old gear and parts! Dang. Saw a couple of antique radio collector friends from other distant parts of the country; made contacts with a couple of folks who may have parts for the BC-191 and the virtually identical BC-375 transmitters. Understand from another email list (Greenkeys) that a couple of fellow teletype collectors were there too. Not much TTY gear to be found though :( May have bumped into one of you ClassicCmp folks but we wouldn't have known each other visually. All-in-all a very good time. Free shuttle buses running frequently all day every day between the several distant parking areas (we parked free at the Salem Mall) and that made it very convenient to haul a heavy object or several bag loads back to the car :) Something for everybody there. Rain held off on Fri and Sat was really beautiful. I may go again someday as my uncle lives in nearby Xenia, OH and I have basically free room and board :) Only 360 miles from home so I don't have too much of an excuse not to go especially if after I find a decent paying job and could have extra $$ to spend. Wonder what the attendance was this year? No motel rooms available within a 75 mile or more radius. Columbus area was reported to be closest rooms. Incidentally, you locals may have noticed there's quite a different scene at Mendelson's Surplus in the past year or so. We went there to pickup a Hamvention ticket for myself and I was pleasantly surprised. New minor league baseball stadium being built across the street, an audio store just opened inside the main building, new parking lot in back of the church, a new Mendelson's outlet store next door across the new parking lot. But it apparently still has the good ol' 3rd floor full of all kinds of parts, equipment and untold amounts of obscure goodies! :-) Yes indeed, next year :) Regards, Chris -- -- Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net Member of Antique Wireless Association URL: http://www.ggw.org/awa

26 years, 9 months

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thermal paper supplier?

by go＠ao.com

At 09:37 PM 5/17/99 -0700, you wrote: >On Tue, 18 May 1999, bluoval wrote: > >> I don't know, in the user manual TI says to use only "approved" thermal >> paper and that the warranty would be void if the approved paper wasn't used. >> >> "The warranty and/or service contract on the thermal printhead is subject to >> nullification if the thermal printing paper used in the terminal does not >> meet TI Specification 972603-0001." > >Translated from marketing that means "Only buy TI paper so we can make >more money." > >> Whatever spec that is. Could be just fax paper, but I was hesitant to use >> any other type paper cause I don't know where to buy a spare printhead if it >> ever broke... > >FAX paper. > >Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com For the most part, "generic" (e.g. Costco "brand") fax paper works just fine in both of my 700s. However, the "real" paper that came with one of the units (I have one almost unused roll left) prints a much darker tone in both machines, suggesting it is more sensitive to heat than "garden variety" (presuming Costco sells garden variety) fax paper. I have yet to try more than one other brand (a roll of "panasonic" paper - lord knows who really made it) and it also prints "light." But it is entirely readable in any case. And the print heads are pretty rugged on these beasts, I wouldn't worry about hurting the printer with "unapproved" paper. Gary

26 years, 9 months

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Honeywell Bull

by owad＠caesarville.net

>Of course Honeywell Bull also sold some odd-ball systems to go with their >Mainframes. My favorite being a "HoneyMac". I believe these all had the >original manufacturers name on them still though. What is the "HoneyMac"? Surely not a Macintosh...? Tom Owad

26 years, 9 months

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Honeywell Bull

by owad＠caesarville.net

I have an opportunity to acquire a Honeywell Bull mainframe, free of charge. I don't have many details on it, but I'm told the computer is about 4x3x2 feet and supported 30 terminals. Any opinions on whether or not this is a computer worth saving, and if it is worth the space it will take up? Thanks. Tom Owad

26 years, 9 months

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Soviet/Russian classic computers?

by dcoward＠pressstart.com

Hi everyone, I have a friend that is leaving Wednesday for Russia and eastern Europe. She said that she could look around over there for old computers, if I could supply her with some names of computers to look for. Does anyone know the make and model of some classic soviet computers? They don't have to be just "personal" computers. Big Iron is also acceptable. So far, after a web search, the only names I have are the "TESLA" pc that someone brought to VCF 2 and "BESM-6" a mainframe from about 1965. If you can come up with other soviet/russian computers, please copy me as well as the list (so I don't have to wait for the digest) and also give some indication of size (just to help identify them). Thanks in advance, --Doug ========================================= Doug Coward Press Start Inc. Sunnyvale,CA =========================================

26 years, 9 months

5
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FS: Review copies of books about microprocessors and microcomputers.

by kstumpf＠unusual.on.ca

As I rummage through things I keep coming up with books about very small computers. These would be put to better use by a micro collector and they will help fund more large system rescues. Unless otherwise noted, these books are in excellent condition and many are hardcover. Shipping charges are extra and depend on your address. 1. The BugBook IV, 1979, Howard Sams & Co., softcover Microcomputer Interfacing using the 8255 PPI chip with experiments $2 2. How to Troubleshoot and Repair Microcomputers, 1980, Reston, softcover with step-by-step procedures $2 (inside blank page removed from book) 3. Microcomputer Hardware, Operation, and Troubleshooting with IBM PC 1988, Prentice-Hall, hardcover $4 4. RS-232 Made Easy, 1984, Prentice-Hall, softcover $3 5. Complete Guide to RS-232 and Parallel Connections, 1988, Prentice-Hall large format, softcover, corners on cover curling, 600 pages $8 6. Your First Microprocessor, 1984, Prentice-Hall, softcover organizing, construction, debugging $3 7. Microcomputer Hardware Design, 1988, Prentice-Hall, hardcover complete in every aspect. $8 8. 16-bit microcomputers - 8086 and 68000, 1988, Prentice-Hall, softcover $2 9. MC68000 Programmer's Reference Manual, 1984, Prentice-Hall, softcover $2 10. MC68000 User's Manual, 1982, Prentice-Hall, softcover $2 11. MC68881/MC68882 Floating-point Co-processor User's Manual (2 copies) 1987, Prentice-Hall, softcover $2 12. Assembly and Assemblers - the Motorola MC68000 Family 1988, Prentice-Hall, hardcover $5 13. Programming and Designing with the 68000 Family, 1991, Prentice-Hall, hardcover $5 13. The Motorola MC68000 Family, 1985, Prentice-Hall, hardcover Assembly Language, Interface Design, and System Design $7 14. 6502 Assembly Language Programming, 1979, Osborne, softcover the classic $4 15. Z80 Assembly Language Programming, 1979, Osborne, softcover the other classic $4 16. Microcomputer Systems: The 8086/8088 Family, 1984, Prentice-Hall, hardcover a beautiful book $8 17. 16-Bit Modern Microcomputers: The Intel I8086 Family, 1985, Prentice-Hall, hardcover an even more beautiful book $9 18. File Formats and More File Formats: the Programmer's Reference, 1986 and 1987, Wiley, plastic coil remember Multimate, etc. learn how to decode native files $8 (together) 19. Programming in BASIC for the IBM Personal Computer, 1984, Prentice-Hall, hardcover $4 20. A Comprehensive Guide to the IBM PC, 1984, Prentice-Hall, softcover really comprehensive $5 21. IBM PC/XT BASIC Programming, 1984, Prentice-Hall, softcover cute book with nice photographs $2 22. Assembly Language Programming for the IBM PC, 1984, Prentice-Hall, hardcover an exceptional intro to assembly language programming for beginners $5 23. The Apple PC for Beginners, 1982, Prentice-Hall, hardcover a basic book with an outstanding cover - a must for Apple collectors $4 24. Apple IIe BASIC programming with Technical Applications, 1985, Prentice-Hall, softcover $2 Enjoy these wonderful books. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Kevin Stumpf * Unusual systems * www.unusual.on.ca +1.519.744.2900 * EST/EDT GMT - 5 Collector - Commercial Mainframes & Minicomputers from the 50s, 60s, & 70s and control panels and consoles. Author & Publisher - A Guide to Collecting Computers & Computer Collectibles * ISBN 0-9684244-0-6 .

26 years, 9 months

2
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Who are you?

by Paul_King＠ml.com

Kind Sirs, I came across a reference to "Classic Computer Collector's Mailing List" on the following web page: http://world.std.com/~mbg/moi_ks10.html I have a small PC (as in IBM PC compatible) collection and would like to maintain contact with others interested in preserving (in operating condition) historically significant examples of these machines. Does your activity cover these little machines? Thank you for your attention. I am, Paul King at Paul_King(a)ml.com

26 years, 9 months

9
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So CA rescue

by ddameron＠earthlink.net

For anyone in So., Calif. with a truck, Barry's (Artesia blvd in Gardena) has a Tek 40xx graphics unit. outside in the front of his salvage yard. Cost =??, I guess cheap as he is moving. -Dave

26 years, 9 months

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Kaypro manuals available

by donm＠cts.com

I am surprised and pleased. There was rather more demand than I anticipated. What's left is mostly for application software and is listed below in a revision of the list. I plan to post it - revised as necessary - to comp.os.cpm on Thursday. - don ========================== The KAYPRO manuals listed below are available free for the asking, first come first served, however, you must pay shipping costs. Unless otherwise requested, they will be sent via USPS at Book Rate. E-mail your requests, please. Qty Title 5 CALCSTAR USERS MANUAL 5 DATASTAR REFERENCE MANUAL 3 DATASTAR TRAINING GUIDE 5 REPORTSTAR USER REFERENCE MANUAL 3 REPORTSTAR TRAINING GUIDE 1 WORDSTAR TRAINING GUIDE 1 WORDSTAR PROFESSIONAL (Users Manual) 1 MAILMERGE REFERENCE GUIDE GONE SUPERTERM (Communications) GONE KAYPRO CP/M GONE KAYPRO II USERS GUIDE GONE KAYPRO USERS GUIDE GONE KAYPRO 10 USERS GUIDE 2 INTRODUCTION TO SOFTWARE 4 MICROPLAN GONE CBASIC REFERENCE MANUAL 3 MICROSOFT BASIC USERS GUIDE 2 MICROSOFT BASIC QUICK REFERENCE 3 SBASIC 3 MSDOS OPERATING SYSTEM USERS GUIDE 2 PROFITPLAN 4 THE WORD Plus (Spell Checker) 1 PERFECT CALC USERS GUIDE 1 WRITING WITH A WORD PROCESSOR by William Zinsser 1 WORD PROCESSING ON THE KAYPRO by Peter McWilliams 1 KAYPRO WORD PROCESSING PLAIN & SIMPLE by David Lenfest & William Houze ======================

26 years, 9 months

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FS: Review copies of books about microprocessors and microcomputers.

by kstumpf＠unusual.on.ca

> >>2. >>How to Troubleshoot and Repair Microcomputers, 1980, Reston, softcover >>with step-by-step procedures >>$2 (inside blank page removed from book) >> > >>14. >>6502 Assembly Language Programming, 1979, Osborne, softcover >>the classic >>$4 >> >>15. >>Z80 Assembly Language Programming, 1979, Osborne, softcover >>the other classic >>$4 > You got 15. Better something than nothing. Please send your address so I can calculate the shipping fee. Yours in good faith. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Kevin Stumpf * Unusual systems * www.unusual.on.ca +1.519.744.2900 * EST/EDT GMT - 5 Collector - Commercial Mainframes & Minicomputers from the 50s, 60s, & 70s and control panels and consoles. Author & Publisher - A Guide to Collecting Computers & Computer Collectibles * ISBN 0-9684244-0-6 .

26 years, 9 months

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Stuff I found at Dayton

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Christian Fandt <cfandt(a)netsync.net> wrote: > Here's a bit of a report of what I found at the Hamvention... > a couple of AUI-to-BNC translator modules for $10 each (Too much? > Just right?) I wouldn't pay more. They are $10-$19 new, when you can find vendors that still carry them. > Also saw a pallet full (4' x 4' x 5' high) of Sun SPARC LX boxen I saw that pile, over by the white tent in the corner. I didn't get an LX (they were stripped and dirty), but I did buy an SMC segmented hub from those guys (the AUI seems to be non-functional, but the RJ45's all work) > a Grid computer, don't know exact model as I don't know Grids, but I'd > wager it was early. No model # on bottom or back. It weighed a ton it seemed, > painted black. Guy wanted $30 but by then I was flat broke by then :( ; I saw one of those near the corner of the building, probably the same one. > lots of C64 and C128 machines and accessories... One guy near the Grid had a box of C-64 and C-128 parts. I didn't make an offer because I didn't want to haul them back to the car. The only interesting device there was what looked like a 64C (wedge-shaped case) with no C= logos on it and a sticker on the bottom that indicated that the case was made in South Australia. A Dick Smith special perhaps? > Wonder what the attendance was this year? No motel rooms available within a > 75 mile or more radius. Columbus area was reported to be closest rooms. I'm glad to live close enough to day-trip. Motel rooms in that part of the state book up well in advance. Attendance in years past was many thousands of people. I'm sure it's still thousands, but my impression is not as many thousands as it used to be before the spring and summer Dayton Computerfests at the same venue. *Those* are nice because all the tables are indoors and people like us bring things to sell to other people like us. (And this August, from what I hear, the Dayton Amiga club and Columbus Amiga club (AmiCON) are planning on putting on something jointly). -ethan _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com

26 years, 9 months

4
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Apple ProFILE Help Needed

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<> 5) There is no inherent 'format' command in the ProFile controller logic <> To enable formatting capability you have to install a special chip <> (according to rumour: a Z-80 with a piggyback EPROM) into a vacant socke < <Much more likely to be a single-chip microcontroller. Some of those had <'development' versions which took a piggyback EPROM. The Z8 (not Z80) was <one such, I think. One of two parts it can be. Z8 (NOT z80 compatable) or a NEC 78PG11 (looks like a z80 registerwise but it's not). <It probably won't help much, because you'd need the code in the EPROM, <though. I have data for the 78pg11 bit it would be hard to scan half of it (brain locked). Allison

26 years, 9 months

2
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Yet another GRiDposting

by ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca

You guys and gals are probably getting tired of my little GRiD updates, but here goes anyway... I am typing this message on the GRiDCase. So the modem works. 2400bps. I found Rob's GRiDBoard website, and from there found out that AST keeps the configuration files for a lot of old GRiDs on its website. I downloaded conf1520.exe from there. Now I have my doubts about this machine even being a GRiDCase 1520. Most of the configuration options don't work or are meaningless to this particular machine. Like the thing to set the backlighting on the display - my machine has a gas plasma display. And it seems to be telling me that my machine doesn't have a modem... so what the heck am I using right now? It did let me configure my expansion RAM from EMS to XMS... or was that the other way around? And it let me change my processor speed. But it wouldn't let me do anything with the hard disk and a whole bunch of other weird things. It's a '286 machine, magnesium alloy case, 1.44MB floppy, had a 20MB HD in it, has a 2400bps internal modem, standard PC ports, gas plasma display, two ROM sockets under a trapdoor above the keyboard... could this thing be anything other than a 1520? Note that is says "GRiDCASE 1500 Series" above the display. Now I suppose it's time to see if I can have the machine work *without* a hard drive installed. I just got a _very_ scary message about JVC drives seizing and taking HD controllers with them. (Thanks for the warning, Jason!) Of course, as the drive that was in the machine when I got it was seized up, the damage may already be done. And maybe that's why I'm still unable to access the HD. :( -- Doug Spence ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/

26 years, 9 months

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Are IBM PCs classic?

by PaKing＠exchange.ml.com

Unaccustomed as I am to keeping my mouth shut, I will endeavor to weigh in on "Are IBM PCs classic?" - even though I just joined this classic computer list today. Since I just joined this "list" today I do not know what prompted "Are IBM PCs classic?". So forgive me in advance if my views have already been offered by others. "Are IBM PCs classic?" is something that I have wondered about and certainly needs to be addressed. If one is being precise, then when one says "IBM PCs" one is referring to the original IBM Personal Computer, introduced in 1981, with a 62.5 watt power supply, Type 1 or 2 motherboard, INTEL 8088 clocked at 4.77 MHz, four ROM sockets, five 8-bit expansion adapter slots, two full height diskette (floppy disk) drive bays and 16 or 64 KILO!-bytes of soldered main memory. If one is alluding, more generally, to all the, more or less, compatible machines that followed (including the IBM PC/XT), then you have thrown open the gates to such a broad spectrum of (sometimes very interesting and significant) machines that the discussion becomes cumbersome. In the interest of circumscribing the discussion, my comments are limited to just the original PC, plus any other "highly (BIOS) compatible" 8-bit bus, 4.77 MHZ PC compatible; like the original Compaq and other early examples. Now... When saying "classic", if you intend to be using standard, plain American English, then the question may be addressed as follows... The American Heritage dictionary has 6 definitions for classic adj. And they are (with my assessment): Definition #1. Of the highest rank or class. My collection has, among other things, five IBM PCs (Type 1 or Type 2) and, wonderful as they are, I would rather assign the "highest rank or class" distinction, as far as a classic digital computer goes, to the likes of machines like ENIAC, ILLIAC 4, System 360/95, Cray (1 and up), etc. My dad worked on ENIAC. Definition #2. Serving as an outstanding representative of its kind; model. If by PC it is agreed that we mean "IBM PC hardware compatible micro computer system" then I would say that the IBM PC is an "outstanding representative" of a IBM PC hardware compatible micro computer system" - having actually initially established and then continually defined this kind of computer. Definition #3. Having lasting significance or recognized worth. The demand for, and eventual numbers sold are a clear indication that the IBM PC had a "recognized worth" to a great many people. It wasn't cheap. Had it not had recognized worth, few would have sold and it would have suffered a fate like the PC Jr. Of course IBM PC is no longer made new so the recognized worth is not what it used to be. But many are still very much in use. To glimpse just one aspect of its "lasting significance" take a look at the IBM PC main memory allocation map. The fact that the PC compatible world is STILL contending with the fixed 640 KB boundary and display adapter memory map above that indicates that the significance is lasting. There are many more aspects of this. So the IBM PC has lasting significance, and still has recognized worth. Definition #4. Pertaining to ancient Greek or Roman literature or art. No, the IBM PC does not in any way pertain to these. Definition #5. Of or in accordance with established principals or methods in the arts and sciences. Yes, the IBM PC indeed uses well "established principals and methods" - in the sciences at least. Nothing very adventurous was attempted in its design. Its design was executed by the worlds mightiest computer company. That was where the "adventurous" aspect came in. IBM being IBM. It was a very adventurous thing for IBM to do. What eventually happened to the worlds mightiest computer company, as a result of their little, adventurous creation, makes a very compelling and ironic tale indeed. But as for the actual IBM PC hardware itself, It uses normal TTL and CMOS logic and has an: internal power supply, motherboard (with Intel CPU, dynamic ram memory, ROM, adapter bus), cassette I/O port! floppy disk drive(s), detached keyboard, I/O adapters (for display, serial, parallel ports), CP/M-86, P-System Pascal, DOS (CP/M inspired), Visicalc, etc. This was all very well established by others before IBM ventured in. I am not qualified to address "in accordance with established arts" part of this definition, but the case sure looks like a classic IBM design, at least to me. Definition #6. Of lasting historical or literary significance. Literary? Not. Historical? Absolutely. The IBM PC system hardware provided a very, very good (though, unfortunately, not a really, really great) foundation upon which an entire genera of useful, rapidly advancing, affordable, accessible, (and eventually quite powerful) personal computing and data processing machines have been built. And are continuing to be built, even to this day. Plus, the very existence of the IBM PC (as good or bad as you would rate the hardware for the time) directly fostered the rapid, stable development of the entire personal computer industry. This industry was not CREATED by the IBM PC. The industry was already there (Apple, S-100, TRS-80, Sinclair, etc, etc) trying to bootstrap itself into viability. But the "endorsement" of the whole concept, by IBM creating a tangible, workable platform, that would certainly not fold up due to lack of financial resources, created an environment "comfortable" enough for the wealthy to pour in their capital and for the young and adventurous to pour their very lives. So... The IBM PC is a classic? The IBM PC is a classic general purpose stored program digital computer system. The IBM PC is a classic micro computer system. The IBM PC is a classic IBM "PC compatible" computer, odd as that may sound, and in fact defines that genre. The IBM PC is a classic little computer that you can put your arms around. The IBM PC is not a classic outside of it's league. The IBM PC is not a classic big "glass house", "mainframe" computer. The IBM PC is not one kind of classic since it doesn't even have one blinking light on the front (and I really mean "blinking" as in flashing on and off). Everybody knows that you have to have lots of blinking lights to have a REAL computer. I cut my computer teeth on an IBM 360/44 (with the 200ns high speed! register option, and that little internal pancake disk drive). It took me quite awhile to get over the fascination of watching the light show dancing around on the front panel. Lights went out with the 370 mid-life kickers and things just weren't the same after that. The IBM PC is not a classic big computer - the kind that put ITS arms around YOU. And those of you who know what I mean, know what I mean. However... If by "classic" you are using some other definition (which you have every right to do) then one can not address the question without knowing the special definition that you have in mind. For example, if by "classic" it is meant that they will eventually be sought after by overly mature, as in aging, men and women looking for a way to bring back some very fond memories of a more vital, adventurous time. And willing to pay (possibly large) sums of money to get such an object of desire - so that they can brag sagely about it to their (also older) knowing friends. If that is what is meant by "classic" then... The IBM PC is not a classic - for everyone. I know of no "classic" anything that is. Will the IBM PC be a popular classic as time goes by? I don't know. But I can tell you that it has become popular with me. I'm way more overly mature than I would like to be and, ahem, I have a original IBM PC, with a Type 1 motherboard and a serial number of _235785. Top that! I am sure some of you can. I plan to de-expand it back to an earlier representative configuration - with one SINGLE SIDED diskette drive! And boot DOS 1.0 or 3.3. And if I find a Type 1 with a number __99999 or less, then I will investigate procuring that. And if I find a Type 1 with a number ___999 or less, then I will really investigate procuring that - and so forth. No I'm not a nut. But I am a collector on the look-out. I have a small (25) "PC" collection (with a cut off at the first Pentium) mostly because I can't stand to see fully functional digital computers, who did nothing but serve their masters, trashed and lost forever. I certainly don't need to find an earlier Type 1, I already have a pretty nice example. What I NEED to find is a fully functional IBM PC Expansion Chassis (with two 10 Meg disk drives) to connect to my Type 1. This could run everything from DOS 1.1 to Windows 3.0. Are IBM PCs classic? Yes, by and large they really are - though not for everyone. Now... If you know where I could get my hands on a working IBM PC Expansion Chassis, especially one headed for oblivion, please let me know. I am, Paul King at PaKing(a)exchange.ml.com

26 years, 9 months

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Honeywell Bull

by jlwest＠tseinc.com

Again, I don't have Honeywell knowledge, but didn't they create a division called Honeywell Bull Information Systems, and rebadged multiple systems under that name? My only knowledge of this comes from my General Automation days. When their Motorola based line was loosing market share to the Unix crowd, they introduced a server called a Honeywell Bull (blue/green nameplate I think)? That system I know for sure was an RS6000. Perhaps HBIS rebadged more than just the RS6000. Sounds like it anywho... Jay -----Original Message----- From: Tom Owad <owad(a)caesarville.net> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, May 18, 1999 5:55 PM Subject: Re: Honeywell Bull >>I am by no means well acquainted with the Honeywell line. But I was under >>the impression that a Honeywell DPS was never called a BULL, it was called a >>DPS. The only system with the Honeywell brand that was called a BULL was >>actually an OEM'ed RS6000 that Honeywell put the BULL label on. > >Hmm... I haven't seen the unit, just talked to the fellow on the phone. >I asked him what kind of computer it was, he put the phone down to go >look at it, came back, and said it was a "Honeywell Bull", also giving me >the dimensions (4x3x2). The computer was used by a company that >assembles line and bucket trucks. I believe they had a good number of >remote terminals set up, and used the system to transfer specs and price >sheets. > >Tom Owad >

26 years, 9 months

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Honeywell Bull

by jlwest＠tseinc.com

You wrote... >> I have an opportunity to acquire a Honeywell Bull mainframe, free of >> charge I am by no means well acquainted with the Honeywell line. But I was under the impression that a Honeywell DPS was never called a BULL, it was called a DPS. The only system with the Honeywell brand that was called a BULL was actually an OEM'ed RS6000 that Honeywell put the BULL label on. Can someone confirm or deny? Jay West

26 years, 9 months

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(fwd) WARNING! New Ebay SCAM! (fwd)

by edick＠idcomm.com

You won't find eBay wanting to "get in the middle" in that way. They get a fee based on the high bid. They don't really care whether the transaction is completed. Of course, the seller gets a credit for his fee in the case where the sale isn't completed, but eBay still gets the money. Why would they want to change this comfortable arrangement? Dick -----Original Message----- From: Philip.Belben(a)pgen.com <Philip.Belben(a)pgen.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, May 18, 1999 7:52 AM Subject: Re: (fwd) WARNING! New Ebay SCAM! (fwd) > > >>>>It means that the "dealer" has an item X in their inventory, they see that >>>someone else on Ebay is selling an equivalent X. The dealer follows the >>>auction to completion, when complete, the dealer sends email to the second >>>highest bidder and asks if they would like to purchase the item from them >>>for the price they offered the seller. >>> >>>This is a scam? Give it a break guys. If I bid on something and am not the >>>high bidder I would like a chance to buy. If you don't then don't reply. >>>Sometimes you can get in a bidding war and end up pay many times the value >>>of an item, I.E. Imsai or Altec on Ebay, Is it really that different than >>>making an offer here to someone who has something you want? So who looses if >>>a seller contacts you and you agree on a fair price? Ebay? Time to face the >>>facts Ebay, Yahoo, etc., etc. auctions are going to stay a while. >> >> The above was an explanation of the legitimate practice. The abuse is where >> a third party pretends to be the seller, contacts the second etc. bidders >> and requests payment be sent to a blind PO Box, then skips with the funds >> never sending any goods. >> >> BTW I just sent an inquiry to eBay to see if this is rumor, hoax, or fact. > > >Oh. I got the impression that it was the highest bidder doing this, i.e. >outbidding the legitimate bidders; then selling his stuff to the failed bidders; >and only then backing down on the original sale. Very nasty, because the >original vendor can't sell to the failed bidders until he has definitely heard >that the winner is backing down... > >At a genuine auction in the UK, the auctioneer has the legal power to sign a >contract of purchase on behalf of either party. So backing down is very, very >difficult. But this sort of safeguard has yet to reach Ebay, I suppose. > >Philip. > > > > >

26 years, 9 months

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Collecting PCs

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote: > >... wouldn't turn down a PDP8/e mind you. > > Why the 8/e in particular? The PDP8 is a very elegant machine, so I can > understand wanting to own one (I have a couple...) but I can't see why > you'd pick that one model. It is the most common one, I guess... In my case the -8/e was the _last_ one I got. I'm personally fond of the pre-OMNIBUS machines (-8/L and -8/i) for the simple matter that they are made of wads of TTL and assembled in such a fashion that it's entirely possible to envision how this gate connects to that flop, etc, and trace the operation of the ALU, etc. The appeal of the OMNIBUS machines is that it's easier to hang modern devices off of them. Of course, it probably comes down to the question of "what did you encounter first". In my case, it was an -8/L followed by an -8/i followed by an -8/a. As for most common, around here, I ran across as many -8/a's as all other kinds put together (during the 1980's when such things were to be found in the wild at all). I wish I could have rescued the two -8/m's that were at OSU analyzing horse urine for the state racing commission. They had a rack of Diablo RK03's on a switch with one CPU attached to a mass spectrometer and the other CPU attached to a 9-track and a Tektronics printing terminal. It was four racks of CPUs, disks and such. The last time I saw them was 1987, give or take a year. It's where I cut my teeth on RTS-8 (during the maintenance time on the mass spec). -ethan _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com

26 years, 9 months

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thermal paper supplier?

by bluoval＠mindspring.com

Does anyone know where I can find a few rolls of thermal paper for a TI Silent 700? I have only about half a roll left and don't want to waste what little I have if I can't find more. Is there any suitable replacements for this paper? Robert

26 years, 9 months

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Soviet/Russian classic computers?

by bill_r＠inetnebr.com

Have you tried AltaVista's "Babelfish"? http://babelfish.altavista.com/cgi-bin/translate? (And yes, the "?" is part of the URL) > >OT: That brings up a good point. I've tried before, searching >for "something" to translate Russian pages. What I found was <snip> > Are there any suggestions for a better & free translator? > Bill Richman incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r (Home of the COSMAC Elf microcomputer simulator!)

26 years, 9 months

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Honeywell Bull

by owad＠caesarville.net

>I am by no means well acquainted with the Honeywell line. But I was under >the impression that a Honeywell DPS was never called a BULL, it was called a >DPS. The only system with the Honeywell brand that was called a BULL was >actually an OEM'ed RS6000 that Honeywell put the BULL label on. Hmm... I haven't seen the unit, just talked to the fellow on the phone. I asked him what kind of computer it was, he put the phone down to go look at it, came back, and said it was a "Honeywell Bull", also giving me the dimensions (4x3x2). The computer was used by a company that assembles line and bucket trucks. I believe they had a good number of remote terminals set up, and used the system to transfer specs and price sheets. Tom Owad

26 years, 9 months

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Stuff I found at Dayton

by kmar＠lle.rochester.edu

At 12:34 PM 5/18/99 -0400, you wrote: >Here's a bit of a report of what I found at the Hamvention. I was there on >Friday from about 09:15 to 17:30 except lunch for which we went off the >grounds and on Saturday from about 08:00 to 13:30. Therefore with my method >of checking every promising box and poking around under tables I saw about >3/4 of the whole fleamarket. I was looking for quite a variety of things >-not just old computers. > >Stuff I dragged home were two DG Ones (model 2208A), two DG printers which >go with them (model 2230), one AC power supply and one printer cable all >for $15; VMEbus boards including one unopened Force Computers SYS68Y DRAM-2 >memory board ($5) and four Motorola CODEX boards, $15; an IOMEGA Ditto Easy >3200 external tape drive (Travan 3) with cable and power supply, $25. > >And my best find of all: a virtually mint, seemingly unused HP9000/300 >computer with 7958B hard drive (150 Mb IIRC) and 9144A 16-track tape drive. >A label on the 98574 CPU module indicated it's been upgraded to a 375 which >is just about the ultimate of the 300-series. A 68030 processor running at >50MHz and 16 Mb of RAM. Nice! > >I've been casually looking for one of the 300's for a couple of years. My >ex-colleague who's an engineering manager from my ex-company's German >parent company told me last week when he visited the house that an HP >9000/332 system was promised to me and will be shipped to me from their >Chicago facility late this year. > >My new 9000/375 system was built into a 19" rack enclosure which was in >turn bolted into a fiberglas transit case about 3' tall, 2' wide by about >2.5' deep. It was part of a military surplus system. I did not get a chance >to find the AN system designation on the rack or case, just that it weighed >97 pounds and required two persons to carry. > >Apparently it had been built and not used *ever*. Just stuck in a military >warehouse probably as a result of a military contract which didn't go >anywhere or as a result of the Cold War ceasing or something. I absolutely >cannot see *any* dust on the leading edges of the fan blades so this system >has maybe only an hour or two at most of operation :) SNs are from mid-89. >There's a Federal Stock Number or system part number rubber stamped onto >the right side of the computer box. A probably earlier FSN or contractor's >PN has been blacked out with paint (about 3/8" x 1.5" strip) and the >present number rubber stamped onto the case after the upgrade to the 375 >model was done. A little ugly, but what the hey! It shows a bit about the >original purpose of the machine. That's the only indication of any special >use of it. The update was done in December '91 according to a date >handwritten on the CPU board tag inside. > >I was passing by the previous owner's space when I overheard one of the >guys asking "What is it?" as they were taking the cover off the 7958B box >to try and figure out just what *it* was. I looked and saw the main box was >a 300 system (Whoa!! Let's stop and look!), became interested and checked >it out. I offered an explanation as to what it was, what it was usually >used for, typical processors used in the 300's, etc. Apparently the >then-new owner who'd just dragged it to his space from a nearby surplus >dealer didn't see a use for it for himself and offered the HP 9000 items to >me and I paid him nearly all the remaining money I had to spend: $40 for >all three boxes. He kept the transit case and 19" rack which bolted inside >as he had a use for it back at home in Houston. He didn't recognize at >first when he bought the whole transit case (for $50) that those 3 HP boxes >which were clamped onto rack slide plates were actually a computer. He was >happy somebody got it who knew what it was and could use it and he was >happy to have the transit case. I love happiness :-) Only thing I had to >promise him was to email him with what I found on the disk. He's a UNI* >system admin and had enough UNI* machines of his own. I'm surprised he >hadn't seen an HP 9000 machine before but these 300's were obsolete some >time ago and he indicated he was always an Intel-based UNI* user. > >I've got a copy of HP-UX 7.0 on tape with the license, both still >shrinkwrapped, and manual set that I've had for some time. Now I've got a >machine to hang it upon! :) BTW, ver. 7.0 is near or at the end of HP-UX >support for the 300's. Have BASIC-UX ver. 5.0 w/license and docs too! > >The keyboard and monitor were some sort of rugged, militarized things built >into an operator's station. The fellow who had it never got from the >surplus dealer as it obviously didn't quite interest him and maybe he >didn't realize what it was. If it's what I *think* I saw an hour or so >earlier at a surplus dealer's space not far away it definitelly wasn't the >normal HP keyboard as it was part of some other section of the system used >as the operations console and was connected via AN/MS connectors and >cables. Have absolutely no idea as to the function of the whole system. If >there's something on the hard disk when it comes up it may give me a good >clue. But I gotta get it lit up first. > >So, does anybody have a very decent looking keyboard and HP-HIL k'bd cable >they're willing to sell to me? Keyboard model *I think* should be a 46020 >or 46021 or a 98203C. I have a fairly substantial pile of 46021 keyboards, HP-HIL cables, and mice for the 9000-300 series, and you are welcome to have one of each for free. All I ask is reimbursmment for the shipping charges. Regards, I don't know the exact differences as I have no >pictures or specs. but they are mentioned in the "Peripheral Installation >Guide for the HP 9000 Series 200/300", which I have had for some time, as >being used with the 300-series. I'll post a separate request for a k'brd >and other info in a separate msg. later today or tomorrow. Need feet for >bottom of the boxes too but probably large stick-on rubber feet should be okay. > >I've got two old non-HP fixed frequency monitors I'll drag out of the >garage and try after I get a k'bd. The video interface card is a 98547A >which is not mentioned in the Periph. Inst. Guide. > >I saw a few DEC items: A rather lonely RL02 standing amongst a bunch of >fairly new amateur gear; a VT320 and VT 420 with a few of DEC's serial >cables; a couple of AUI-to-BNC translator modules for $10 each (Too much? >Just right?) and little else that I could see. > >Bought a couple more Ethernet NICs for $10 new (Intel 8/16); 3.5-to-5.25" >floppy adaptors for $1 each; 25' CAT5 cables for $3 each; "The Hard Disk >Technical Guide", "The Modem Tech. Guide", and "The Network Tech. Guide" >all w/CDROMs, published by Micro House, for $5 each; misc. cables and bits. >Hard disks were even cheaper than I'd ever seen but had no extra bucks to >spend, dang it. > >Also saw a pallet full (4' x 4' x 5' high) of Sun SPARC LX boxen; a Grid >computer, don't know exact model as I don't know Grids, but I'd wager it >was early. No model # on bottom or back. It weighed a ton it seemed, >painted black. Guy wanted $30 but by then I was flat broke by then :( ; >lots of C64 and C128 machines and accessories; tons of PeeCee stuff of all >ages and condx; pallets full of printers and monitors; lots of IBM >MicroChannel machines and boards; several HP Vectras; boxes of network >stuff of varying conditions and types; boxes of shrinkwrapped software; >bunches of other stuff I can't recall at the moment. Lots and lots of >amateur radio gear of course. > >I wish I had more money to spend there dang it! > >Importantly, I did score a few really hard to find parts for the WWII >BC-191F transmitter I'm trying to restore plus a few military connectors >for some gear in the collection; also got a couple of test equipment >manuals for units I have in the collection. Still wish I had more $$$ so I >could get more old gear and parts! Dang. > >Saw a couple of antique radio collector friends from other distant parts of >the country; made contacts with a couple of folks who may have parts for >the BC-191 and the virtually identical BC-375 transmitters. Understand from >another email list (Greenkeys) that a couple of fellow teletype collectors >were there too. Not much TTY gear to be found though :( May have bumped >into one of you ClassicCmp folks but we wouldn't have known each other >visually. > >All-in-all a very good time. Free shuttle buses running frequently all day >every day between the several distant parking areas (we parked free at the >Salem Mall) and that made it very convenient to haul a heavy object or >several bag loads back to the car :) > >Something for everybody there. Rain held off on Fri and Sat was really >beautiful. I may go again someday as my uncle lives in nearby Xenia, OH and >I have basically free room and board :) Only 360 miles from home so I don't >have too much of an excuse not to go especially if after I find a decent >paying job and could have extra $$ to spend. > >Wonder what the attendance was this year? No motel rooms available within a >75 mile or more radius. Columbus area was reported to be closest rooms. > >Incidentally, you locals may have noticed there's quite a different scene >at Mendelson's Surplus in the past year or so. We went there to pickup a >Hamvention ticket for myself and I was pleasantly surprised. New minor >league baseball stadium being built across the street, an audio store just >opened inside the main building, new parking lot in back of the church, a >new Mendelson's outlet store next door across the new parking lot. But it >apparently still has the good ol' 3rd floor full of all kinds of parts, >equipment and untold amounts of obscure goodies! :-) > >Yes indeed, next year :) > >Regards, Chris >-- -- >Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian >Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net >Member of Antique Wireless Association > URL: http://www.ggw.org/awa > > Kenneth L. Marshall Research Engineer, Optical Materials Laboratory for Laser Energetics University of Rochester 250 East River Road Rochester, NY 14623 Phone:(716)-275-8247 Fax: (716)-275-5960

26 years, 9 months

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CURSOR and Commodore cassettes

by mranalog＠home.com

Doug Spence wrote: > Does anyone have the program "RACE" from Cursor #2? About a year ago, I transfered the first 15 or so CURSOR tapes to Commodore disk for Larry Anderson to put up on his BBS. I did it in a hurry and didn't keep a copy of the disks. You can ask him for a copy or I can try to "dig" the box of CURSOR tape out of which ever pile it wound up in. If I can find the tape, I can transfer it to the pc on the little C64 dev station I set up at work. Let me know. Doug Spence wrote: >I need some information about the Commodore cassette storage format. >....snip..... >In the data portions, it appears as if every 20th wave is special About a year and a half ago, I took my shot at converting wave files. Unfortunately I had to move on to other projects just as I was making progress. First, IMHO if you are sampling at less than 44.1, you are making things too hard on yourself. I did find the format of the header in a book and now I can't remember which book it was, but I'm fairly certain it was a PET book. I started with a test program consisting of: 10 REM ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Then I wrote a C program to measure pulses from "bottom to bottom". Analyzing the data, I choose 15 samples as the difference between small pulse and a large one. 15 or less was small and 16 or greater was a large. > with maximum amplitude and a smaller frequency. Yes, this is a sync bit at the start of ever byte. Watching for this will tell you when the data begins. Below I have copied the begining of the last test output I ran. First there is a row of pulse lengths (in samples) (20 17 17 14 14 17 14 17 17 12 14 17 13 16 13 16 16 14 13 17) Then there is a row where zero is a "small pulse", 1 is a "large" pulse. ( 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 ) With that information, I determine the byte like this: * the first two pulses are 1 and 1 - this is the sync bit. * the next two pulses are the low order bit * a 1 followed by a 0 is a 1 * a 0 followed by a 1 is a 0 * and the last two pulses is the parity bit So in the first line of data: 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 represents hex 89. This is just a small portion of the output file. It shows the header up to and including the filename (TEST1). If you want, I can sent you the rest of this file off list. ; ; Cassette Tape Analysis of c6444812.wav Created 09/11/97 ; Silence............for 0x0024F2 bytes at byte count 0x000024F3 Reading leader....... Silence............for 0x001C77 bytes at byte count 0x00004296 Reading leader....... Leader = 27136 Reading data....... 20 17 17 14 14 17 14 17 17 12 14 17 13 16 13 16 16 14 13 17 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 89 20 16 14 17 14 17 14 17 16 13 13 17 13 16 13 16 16 13 16 14 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 88 20 16 17 14 17 14 16 13 13 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 16 14 17 14 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 87 20 16 13 17 17 13 16 13 13 15 13 16 13 16 13 16 16 13 13 17 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 86 20 16 17 14 14 17 17 13 12 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 17 13 13 17 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 85 20 16 14 17 13 16 17 13 13 16 14 16 13 16 13 16 16 14 17 14 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 84 19 17 17 14 16 14 13 16 13 16 14 16 13 16 13 17 16 13 13 17 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 83 20 16 14 17 17 13 13 17 14 16 13 16 13 16 14 17 17 14 16 13 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 82 19 16 17 14 13 16 14 16 14 16 13 17 13 16 13 17 16 13 16 14 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 81 19 17 17 13 13 17 14 17 13 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 01 20 17 17 14 14 17 14 17 14 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 01 20 17 14 17 15 17 14 17 16 13 13 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 08 20 16 17 15 17 13 13 16 13 16 13 16 16 13 13 16 13 16 13 16 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 23 # 20 16 14 17 14 16 13 16 17 13 13 16 14 16 13 16 13 16 13 16 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 08 19 16 14 17 14 17 17 13 13 16 16 13 13 16 17 14 13 17 14 16 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 54 T 19 16 17 15 13 17 16 13 13 16 13 16 13 16 16 14 13 17 14 17 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 45 E 20 17 17 14 17 14 13 17 13 17 16 13 13 16 16 13 13 17 17 14 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 53 S 20 16 14 17 14 16 17 13 13 17 16 13 13 16 16 14 13 17 13 16 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 54 T 19 16 17 14 13 17 14 16 13 16 16 13 17 14 14 16 13 16 13 16 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 31 1 19 16 14 17 15 17 13 16 13 16 13 16 16 13 13 16 14 17 14 17 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 20 I hope this helps, --Doug ==================================================== Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com (work) Sr. Software Eng. mranalog(a)home.com (home) Press Start Inc. http://www.pressstart.com Sunnyvale,CA Curator Museum of Personal Computing Machinery http://www.best.com/~dcoward/museum/ and the new Analog Computer Museum and History Center http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog ====================================================

26 years, 9 months

3
4
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Intel Extender cards

by Innfogra＠aol.com

In a message dated 5/17/99 3:30:51 PM Pacific Daylight Time, rigdonj(a)intellistar.net writes: > I picked up a pair of Intel extender cards in my travels and I'm > wondering if anyone knows what they might be for. They have two sets of > contacts with 80 contacts in each (40 per side per set). The contacts in > each set have 1/10" spacing. No, they're not Multibus :-( I suspect they are Multibus II. They look similar to VME cards. My books are still at the whse. I will check when I get down there tonight. Paxton

26 years, 9 months

3
2
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Are IBM PCs classic?

by edick＠idcomm.com

The only XT I still have is one based on an 80186, which I've used to develop code for the '186. The XT was, for the most part, hampered by the presence of all the PC hardware. With the '186, you could make the internal peripherals go away and reappear at a location not addressed by the PC hardware, though there were sometimes ambiguities which fouled things up. Dick -----Original Message----- From: allisonp(a)world.std.com <allisonp(a)world.std.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, May 18, 1999 9:27 AM Subject: Re: Are IBM PCs classic? >> To provide a counterpoint to that, there were so many PCs and PC clones, >> that collecting them would be more tantamount to collecting matchbox cars > >While I don't specifically collect PCs I do have a few I'm holding as >they are interesting or unique. The key being yes they are clones but >they are in some waus more desireable than the IBMs or the lesser popular. > >For example a leading edge model D XT clone, smaller and has videomono >and color), serial, printer and floppy on the MB. Yet it has many slots >for add ins and is quite compact. > >Another is a Kaypro xt that has a passive mother. The whole system >floppy, video, cpu ram are on two ISA-8 cards! Very different. > >The last of the oldies is the PS2/50z, MCA and a really better 286 than >some. > >There are many like the DTK machines I just junk as they were common turbo >XTs that had no redeming features. > >Allison >

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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Are IBM PCs classic?

by jlwest＠tseinc.com

I certainly have the same mindset that PC's aren't worthy of being "classic" in the sense that a PDP-8 or HP2108A is.... at first blush.... But thinking about it more, it would seem to me that like quantum mechanics, it depends on the time and act of the observation. Specifically, we might not be so quick to dismiss the PC architecture if we were currently in the year 2100 (that was just a random choice of year, nothing to do with HP's <grin>). To provide a counterpoint to that, there were so many PCs and PC clones, that collecting them would be more tantamount to collecting matchbox cars than collecting real cars (which I liken to collecting mini's). They're much easier to comeby right now, so one would collect for color and variety for example rather than each item depicting a phase of computing history. While I understand and agree with others idea that PC's are "not as historically significant except as a whole", I think it is - no less - a valid item to collect. BTW - I'm referring to PC architecture machines, not S100, or even PET type machines. Just my .00002 cents worth. Cheers! Jay West

26 years, 9 months

2
1
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Scientific Micro Systems

by edick＠idcomm.com

SMS was the maker of a number of 8X300-based FDC's. These were about 10x12" things with loads of TTL, normally bounted in a 17x18x15" (wxlxh) cast aluminum-framed case with a clipped-on aluminum shell, often painted off-white or beige, in which there were two 8" drives. The boards had numbers like FDC300 or FT400, and were interfaced via a req/ack handshake and 8-bit data on a 50-conductor cable. The models (300 & 400) with which I'm familiar, were single-sided, but the FDC of the 400 supported double-density. The interface protococ was at the sector or track level, i.e. it was simple and based on commands like "read the next sector" or format the next track, with much less fiddling than with the WD or NEC FDC's. Their HDC's worked more or less like the bridge controllers from other vendors. SMS was the original developer of the 8X300 microcontroller, produced for them by Signetics. They later produced FDC's and HDC's under the name OMTI. I may still have doc's for the ones I had, though I remember at least one of the manuals got a mite wet some time back. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Mike Ford <mikeford(a)netwiz.net> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, May 18, 1999 7:21 AM Subject: Scientific Micro Systems >In my scrap yard looking I came across a batch of circuit boards near some >old 8" floppy drives (Shugart, Qume, etc. and all bad I think, or >troublesome) and I am wondering if they mean anything to anybody. They are >large, maybe 11x17 or more, and the name on them is Scientific Micro >Systems. The only connector I remember is a about a 4" wide edge connector >on one end of the board in the middle. > >

26 years, 9 months

2
1
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Tossing

by edick＠idcomm.com

I can understand why people go ahead and "toss" things as opposed to going to the trouble to pack and ship them. Whereas I seldom object to giving someone who will use it an item in my storage heap, I have had qualms, at times, about people who wanted "everything" when I knew up front that it would just go from my dead storage area to theirs. I never worried so much about what happened to the puppies I sold. I guess I figured that people willing to pay for something would care for it and put it to use. What a silly notion! When I made public what I had here, I got lots of requests for essentially "all the good stuff" if there is such a designation, and at the end of the day, so to speak, only one fellow sent funds to cover shipping. I sent him the two boards he requested, and, as far as I'm concerned, he still has credit with me for another USPS priority mail shipment of <2 lbs. Of course shipping boards or diskettes/manuals is pretty easy when compared with shipping a 20" high by 30" deep metal box . . . Dick -----Original Message----- From: Philip.Belben(a)pgen.com <Philip.Belben(a)pgen.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, May 18, 1999 7:50 AM Subject: Re: Tossing > > >>> Anyway, Macs are prety neat to stack (especialy the classic ones), >>> and should form a neat wall (maybe for seperation between dining >>> room and kitchen ?) or can be used as base for a desk etc. >>> >>> (I just havn't enough to proove it) >> >> I've tested this hypothesis in the lab and have concluded that they do not >> stack well. They are angled slightly at the top. With enough Macs you >> could build a suspension bridge, but I wouldn't drive a car over it. > > >Suspension bridge? I take it you mean an arch bridge... > >The way to build a wall is to stack them not all the same way round. The most >stable method is probably LRRLLRRLL..., but LRLRLR would probably work (L and R >meaning Macs facing Left and Right respectively) > >Philip. > > > > >

26 years, 9 months

1
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Apple ProFILE Help Needed

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

At 12:51 AM 5/18/99 -0700, you wrote: >On Mon, 17 May 1999, James Willing wrote: > >> >> work where it would fail before. The clicking sound it makes is >> >> pretty loud and annoying and I'm sure a LLF won't help that. Does >> >> It's quite possible that the problem may be little more than bit-rot due to >> the degredation of the magnetic domains on the drive platters. (or it >> really could be busted, but let's think good thots here) Also, power >> failures during writes could honk up the drive real easily... > >Naw, he says its clicking. I think its internal mechanical failure. ...or dust in the track 0 optical sensor... (externally mounted, easy to get to) -jim --- jimw(a)computergarage.org The Computer Garage - http://www.computergarage.org Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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offer

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 01:16 AM 5/18/99 -0700, Sellam Ismail wrote: >He's trying. For me, one of the most delightful parts of running a small software business was reading the unsolicited letters. I kept a file folder of them. One of my favorites was from another East Bloc country that started out in clear English, slowly began to struggle, and then finally gave up and switched to their mother tongue. For a while, every few weeks we'd get a letter from Mosul, Iraq, each more creative than the last. Some were written in crayon, some pencil, some on paper with inch-tall lines, some block-printed with a rubber-stamp kit. Eventually, I guessed it was a young kid who'd regularly raid his dad's supply of stamps and envelopes. - John

26 years, 9 months

1
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(fwd) WARNING! New Ebay SCAM! (fwd)

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

>>>It means that the "dealer" has an item X in their inventory, they see that >>someone else on Ebay is selling an equivalent X. The dealer follows the >>auction to completion, when complete, the dealer sends email to the second >>highest bidder and asks if they would like to purchase the item from them >>for the price they offered the seller. >> >>This is a scam? Give it a break guys. If I bid on something and am not the >>high bidder I would like a chance to buy. If you don't then don't reply. >>Sometimes you can get in a bidding war and end up pay many times the value >>of an item, I.E. Imsai or Altec on Ebay, Is it really that different than >>making an offer here to someone who has something you want? So who looses if >>a seller contacts you and you agree on a fair price? Ebay? Time to face the >>facts Ebay, Yahoo, etc., etc. auctions are going to stay a while. > > The above was an explanation of the legitimate practice. The abuse is where > a third party pretends to be the seller, contacts the second etc. bidders > and requests payment be sent to a blind PO Box, then skips with the funds > never sending any goods. > > BTW I just sent an inquiry to eBay to see if this is rumor, hoax, or fact. Oh. I got the impression that it was the highest bidder doing this, i.e. outbidding the legitimate bidders; then selling his stuff to the failed bidders; and only then backing down on the original sale. Very nasty, because the original vendor can't sell to the failed bidders until he has definitely heard that the winner is backing down... At a genuine auction in the UK, the auctioneer has the legal power to sign a contract of purchase on behalf of either party. So backing down is very, very difficult. But this sort of safeguard has yet to reach Ebay, I suppose. Philip.

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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Univac pix

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

>> Geez! And my wife complains about my two Altairs and the Tektronix 4051 >> sitting in the living room!! >> >> Joe > > Very well, since you're twisting my arm Joe... I'll take the two Altairs > off your hands.. You'll have to find someone else to take the Tektronix > (I think I have one of those, minus the monitor, that i'm using as > a TV stand. I used to use it for a computer desk.. Nice adjustable > keyboard tray, now i put my VCR on that tray..) I think you may have lost your 4051! It was a self contained unit with keyboard, monitor, processor all in one box. If you're using it as a TV stand you may have lost the 4051 and just kept the pedestal... (Seriously, I think you're confusing it with a more modern piece of Tek kit) Philip.

26 years, 9 months

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Making copies of Docs was: --H/Z89--

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

>> Proposal for copying really OLD documents (I get a royalty if someone >> does this and it works!) >> >> 1) Develop a machine that performs a CAT scan of the document >> without opening it at very high resolution. >> >> 2) process the high resolution 3D images captured to determine >> the ink patterns on each page. >> >> 3) OCR the individual pages to recreate the original text >> >> Simple, Right? >> >> clint > > Hi > Most documents can be opened to about 90 degrees. What does > them in is flattening them on a copier. One could build a > lens assembly that would go on top of the copier that would > allow one to place the original on top with only a 90 degree > bend. The size of the optics is the main issue here. I saw a photocopier demonstrated on TV well over 10 years ago which copied books without opening them more than about 80 degrees. I seem to recall it was the British Library who were sponsoring the development, but I may be confusing this with something else. Philip.

26 years, 9 months

1
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Collecting PCs

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Lawrence Walker <lwalker(a)mail.interlog.com> wrote: > On 17 May 99 at 17:10, Chuck McManis wrote: > > I recall the folks who have collected PETs and C64s that are pretty common > > and "worthless" these days (I saw a new Vic20 in box at the Hamvention that > > they couldn't _give_ away.) > > Well had you picked it up you could have made a bit of money. Check what > they're going for on E-Pay... I don't know if I got _that_ VIC-20, but I did get _a_ VIC-20 in the box for $2. I also got a C2N tape drive, new in the box for $1. I'm doing pretty well... the last VIC-20 I bought was $4. I don't think I can keep up the progression through too many more iterations, though. ;-) -ethan _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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offer

by apolon＠triada.bg

Apolon Ltd. P.O. BOX 303, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria Tel: + 359-52-221168, Fax: +359-52-600034 e-mail: apolon(a)triada.bg Dear Sirs, My company had organize software group. I should like offer you to perform a contract with your company. If you wish to order me some software application task - I am ready to execute your commission. I am ready to make any your task and will give (send) you the made software applicationtion until you convince of the best completed. If you have some interest im my offer, please inform me. I await your conditions for jointly job. Thank you very much Best regards: Milko Harizanov President

26 years, 9 months

2
1
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Apple ProFILE Help Needed

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 99-05-17 21:33:51 EDT, you write: > I've received a ProFILE interface for my Apple II but the spare 5 > meg (at least I think it's 5 meg) ProFILE drive I had seems to have > died. Does anyone have a spare one available? Maybe someone > out in the hardware rich west coast? Or can anyone repair one? It > makes a clicking noise as it spins up and keeps clicking as the > drive is spinning. Sometime ProDOS can access the drive but > most of the time it just returns an error. Any help? well, if the drive can be accessed somewhat, then it's not a catastrophic failure; maybe a LLF will do it? I've heard that only a lisa and maybe an apple /// are the only computers that can LLF a profile. can anyone verify?

26 years, 9 months

3
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Kaypro manuals available

by donm＠cts.com

On Mon, 17 May 1999, Ethan Dicks wrote: > --- Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> wrote: > > > Some, perhaps. I'm not rife with CP/M, so I'm interested... > > > 5 KAYPRO CP/M > > If these are copies of CP/M for the Kaypro (2.2), I'm interested in two, > one for me and one for another Kaypro owner here in town. They are basically Kaypro reprints of the DRI manuals for CP/M. > > 1 KAYPRO II USERS GUIDE > > I'd like this, too. Sorry, taken. > > 3 KAYPRO USERS GUIDE > > What model? Ditto. (II and 4 '83, actually) - don

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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Apple ProFILE Help Needed

by dlw＠trailingedge.com

I've received a ProFILE interface for my Apple II but the spare 5 meg (at least I think it's 5 meg) ProFILE drive I had seems to have died. Does anyone have a spare one available? Maybe someone out in the hardware rich west coast? Or can anyone repair one? It makes a clicking noise as it spins up and keeps clicking as the drive is spinning. Sometime ProDOS can access the drive but most of the time it just returns an error. Any help? Thanks. ----- David Williams - Computer Packrat dlw(a)trailingedge.com http://www.trailingedge.com

26 years, 9 months

2
1
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pdp 11/34 CPU - House Broken, Spayed, Likes Kids

by STSyntor＠aol.com

I have one used (What other kind could there be?) pdp 11/34 CPU and an RL 02 drive. It seems lonely sitting in my garage but I can't bring myself to send it to the local metal recycler. The system was fully operational when replaced by a "Stratus" system. It was operating as some kind of message switch. I also have a rack of "Data Comm General" 1200-9600 modems for dedicated lines. Any interest in these fine specimens? Dave stsyntor(a)aol.com "Knowledge is power but information can be sold."

26 years, 9 months

3
2
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Kaypro manuals available

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> wrote: > > I know that the general level of interest in things Kaypro is low amongst > the members of this list; Some, perhaps. I'm not rife with CP/M, so I'm interested... > 5 KAYPRO CP/M If these are copies of CP/M for the Kaypro (2.2), I'm interested in two, one for me and one for another Kaypro owner here in town. > 1 KAYPRO II USERS GUIDE I'd like this, too. > 3 KAYPRO USERS GUIDE What model? I'm in Columbus, OH (43201). Thanks, -ethan _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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(no subject)

by advmedical＠earthlink.net

I saw your thread...I am also having problems ordering a new drum...the green thing in the front of the machine that has toner all around it....My pages come out white....and I do not think I need toner but rather a new drum.....and I like this printer....but when I call compaq they do not know what the hell I am talking about... michael

26 years, 9 months

3
5
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Kaypro manuals available

by donm＠cts.com

I know that the general level of interest in things Kaypro is low amongst the members of this list; however, I am offering first crack at the items on the following list to the members. I will be posting it to comp.os.cpm on Wednesday or Thursday, but in the meantime it is for classiccmp alone. - don =============== The KAYPRO manuals listed below are available free for the asking, first come first served, however, you must pay shipping costs. Unless otherwise requested, they will be sent via USPS at Book Rate. E-mail your requests, please. Qty Title 5 CALCSTAR USERS MANUAL 5 DATASTAR REFERENCE MANUAL 3 DATASTAR TRAINING GUIDE 5 REPORTSTAR USER REFERENCE MANUAL 3 REPORTSTAR TRAINING GUIDE 1 WORDSTAR TRAINING GUIDE 1 WORDSTAR PROFESSIONAL (Users Manual) 1 MAILMERGE REFERENCE GUIDE 1 SUPERTERM (Communications) 5 KAYPRO CP/M 1 KAYPRO II USERS GUIDE 3 KAYPRO USERS GUIDE 1 KAYPRO 10 USERS GUIDE 3 INTRODUCTION TO SOFTWARE 4 MICROPLAN 1 CBASIC REFERENCE MANUAL 4 MICROSOFT BASIC USERS GUIDE 3 MICROSOFT BASIC QUICK REFERENCE 5 SBASIC 4 MSDOS OPERATING SYSTEM USERS GUIDE 2 PROFITPLAN 4 THE WORD Plus (Spell Checker) 1 PERFECT CALC USERS GUIDE 1 WRITING WITH A WORD PROCESSOR by William Zinsser 2 WORD PROCESSING ON THE KAYPRO by Peter McWilliams 1 KAYPRO WORD PROCESSING PLAIN & SIMPLE by David Lenfest & William Houze ===================

26 years, 9 months

2
1
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(no subject)

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I saw your thread...I am also having problems ordering a new drum...the <green thing in the front of the machine that has toner all around <it....My pages come out white....and I do not think I need toner but <rather a new drum.....and I like this printer....but when I call compaq <they do not know what the hell I am talking about... What printer is it? it sounds like the declaser series and it's possible the HV are down or the drum is dead. Allison

26 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Intel Extender cards

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

Hi all, I picked up a pair of Intel extender cards in my travels and I'm wondering if anyone knows what they might be for. They have two sets of contacts with 80 contacts in each (40 per side per set). The contacts in each set have 1/10" spacing. No, they're not MultiBus :-( They have long guides built onto them to support the card being tested. Any ideas? Joe

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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(fwd) WARNING! New Ebay SCAM! (fwd)

by fpp＠concentric.net

>. The abuse is where >a third party pretends to be the seller, contacts the second etc. bidders >and requests payment be sent to a blind PO Box, then skips with the funds >never sending any goods. >BTW I just sent an inquiry to eBay to see if this is rumor, hoax, or fact. This, I agree, is a scam. Problem seems to be that Ebay is just so huge. I heard so much about Ebay here that as a joke I listed an old, empty, Zippo fuel can. It sold for $22.22 plus shipping! My Lord, that explains the stupid prices for old computers on Ebay. These people have no lives and a hell of a lot of money. Now if I only could find that old can of......

26 years, 9 months

2
1
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(fwd) WARNING! New Ebay SCAM! (fwd)

by fpp＠concentric.net

>It means that the "dealer" has an item X in their inventory, they see that someone else on Ebay is selling an equivalent X. The dealer follows the auction to completion, when complete, the dealer sends email to the second highest bidder and asks if they would like to purchase the item from them for the price they offered the seller. This is a scam? Give it a break guys. If I bid on something and am not the high bidder I would like a chance to buy. If you don't then don't reply. Sometimes you can get in a bidding war and end up pay many times the value of an item, I.E. Imsai or Altec on Ebay, Is it really that different than making an offer here to someone who has something you want? So who looses if a seller contacts you and you agree on a fair price? Ebay? Time to face the facts Ebay, Yahoo, etc., etc. auctions are going to stay a while.

26 years, 9 months

4
3
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(fwd) WARNING! New Ebay SCAM! (fwd)

by steverob＠hotoffice.com

> The above was an explanation of the legitimate practice. The abuse is where > a third party pretends to be the seller, contacts the second etc. bidders > and requests payment be sent to a blind PO Box, then skips with the funds > never sending any goods. > > BTW I just sent an inquiry to eBay to see if this is rumor, hoax, or fact. > I always check the email address of the person requesting payment. If it is not the same as listed in Ebay, I would get really suspicious. Steve Robertson - <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>

26 years, 9 months

1
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Who are you?

by steverob＠hotoffice.com

> There's a certain amount of disagreement on whether PCs are classic or not. > One camp says that any computer over 10 years old qualifies, another will > say that since the PC archetecture is at the core of modern PCs that it doesn't. > Personally I say welcome to the group. I have no particular interest in 286 and newer machines but, many of those machines do qualify under the 10 year rule so, welcome aboard. Steve Robertson - <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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OT:Jock or Nerd

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I know this is OT but thought you guys and gals might find it entertaining. Joe > >The answer to the eternal question "Is it better to be a jock or a nerd?", I >submit the following: > >Michael Jordan makes over $300,000 a game. That = $10,000 a minute, at an >average 30 minutes per game. With $40 million in endorsements, he makes >$178,100 a day, working or not. > >If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of >sugarplums dance in his head. > >If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18,550 >while he's there. > >If he decides to have a 5 minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it. > >He makes $7,415/hr more than minimum wage. > >He'll make $3,710 while watching each episode of Friends. > >If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000) it would take him a >whole 12 hours. > >If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would >have to do it at the rate of $2.00 every second. > >He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be >reimbursed $33,390 for that round. > >Assuming he puts the federal maximum of 15% of his income into a tax >deferred account (401k), he will hit the federal cap of $9500 at 8:30 a.m. >on January 1st. > >If you were given a penny for every 10 dollars he made, you 'd be living >comfortably at $65,000 a year. > >He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100 meter dash in the Olympics. > >He'll make about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon. > >While the common person is spending about $20 for a meal in his trendy >Chicago restaurant, he'll pull in about $5600. > >This Year, he'll make more than twice as much as all U.S. past Presidents >for all of their terms combined. > >Amazing isn't it? > >----------------------------------------------------------------- >However, if Jordan saves 100% of his income for the next 250 years, he'll >still have less than Bill Gates has today. > >Game over. >Nerd wins. >

26 years, 9 months

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(fwd) WARNING! New Ebay SCAM! (fwd)

by jpl15＠netcom.com

Usually I remain aloof from e-bay stuff, as I do not use, or much like, the system. HOWEVER, this seems an easy way to get scammed by someone and does not appear to be reasonably detectable until it's too late. I have deleted identifying bits in the text to keep from propagating innocent IDs all over. Forwarded message follows: -------------------------------------------------------- Xref: ix.netcom.com rec.radio.swap I don't normally post on this group, but this is so important that it needs to get out as quickly as possible before anybody else gets burned. Late last month (April) I had put a XXXX repeater up for sale on Ebay. It was bid on by quite a few different persons. The high bidder on it didn't contact me for four days and finally sent an email backing out of the deal. This resulted in a negative feedback being placed which made it public knowledge that he had back out. Two days ago I was contacted by two of the higher bidders. Each had been contacted by a person in Xxxxxx Xxxxx, California wanting to know if they were still willing to honor their bid on the repeater! Now this is the very same repeater sitting in my shop as I type this! Since the email address of the seller in the original auction was overlooked (you would have to do a search of past auctions to get a peek at it) this person played the part very well as the owner and managed to get two money orders sent to him. The address he uses is a mail drop on XXXXX Rd in Xxxxx Xxxxxx, CA. If you see this street come up in any dealings with a person out in that area BEWARE! PLEASE if you have been or get contacted by anybody on Ebay who wants to pursue a bid you made on an item, double check his email address >from the original auction page. Ebay has been notified and I'm pushing to get the bidding history either removed or modified to notify all involved that the history has been accessed. Thank you for taking the time to read. Signed XXXXXXXXX ---------------------------------------------------------- End forwarded message Since we here are dealing in a different line of equipment, I did not include the alleged miscreant's address or city... but the algorithm of the scam can be applied anywhere. Of course I realize that anyone can post anything they like to Usenet, but this has the Ring of Truth to it. Caveat Vendor..... just another reason I dislike e-bay. No *real* auction is timed... the sale is made final when no other bidder increments the price... so even 'sniping' has a balancing force against it: the ever-rising price. When there is a known time limit for the sale to expire, then how can that be fair? Cheers John

26 years, 9 months

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Kermit-11 user manual

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On May 17, 16:12, David Hoskins wrote: > Subject: Kermit-11 user manual > Kermit-11 is a file transfer program that runs under RT-11 and posibly = > other PDP11 systems such as RSTS, RSX, TSX It not only runs under those operating systems, but under just about every system known to man... -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

26 years, 9 months

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Dayton Hamvention report

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Hans Franke <Hans.Franke(a)mch20.sbs.de> wrote: > > I did make the T-shirts, one from the photo of a working PDP-8/e and one > > from the scan of the marketing literature. The text above and below the > > picture said: > > > Wanted: PDP8's > > > Report all sightings to classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > > > Several people walked up and started conversations based on seeing two of > > us wandering around with a PDP on our backs. Nobody had any spares. :-( > > Say, what about a licenced copy of your T ? I don't know about getting into _that_ business. It was OK to make a couple of shirts from transfer paper, but it's quite time consuming to print out the sheet, trim the edges, iron the shirt and backing pillowcase, then apply the image. If I owned the image, I'd consider it, but the image that I liked the best was the photo of someone's personal machine; they own the copyright, but were nice enough to let me use the image for my own purposes. -ethan _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com

26 years, 9 months

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FW:[oldies] How to get rid of DEC Rainbow 100's?

by pjoules＠coleg-powys.ac.uk

As usual, contact the poster rather than myself: On Sun, 16 May 1999 16:28:45 -0700, in comp.sys.dec.micro cryorunner(a)aol.com (Rhett James Barnes) wrote: >I have a couple of DEC Rainbow 100's here that I want to get rid of. I >feel kind of guilty just throwing them away, as I have a pretty good >collection of origial software with manuals, and one printer, and I >figured that some collector might enjoy having a fairly complete system. >I know it's not a very popular computer, but I figured that there has to >be someone out there. Anyone have any ideas about how to rescue these >things from the garbage can? >-Rhett >cryorunner(a)aol.com > >PS. Sorry for posting about a 1982 on this 1999 group, but it's been hard >to find an appropriate outlet.

26 years, 9 months

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Dayton Hamvention report

by Hans.Franke＠mch20.sbs.de

> I did make the T-shirts, one from the photo of a working PDP-8/e and one > from the scan of the marketing literature. The text above and below the > picture said: > Wanted: PDP8's > Report all sightings to classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Several people walked up and started conversations based on seeing two of > us wandering around with a PDP on our backs. Nobody had any spares. :-( Say, what about a licenced copy of your T ? Gruss H. -- Traue keinem Menschen der 5 Tage blutet und immer noch nicht tod ist.

26 years, 9 months

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good source of obscure IBM parts?

by red＠bears.org

As the new owner of an abandoned IBM product (Thinkpad Power Series 850, 1995, not on topic, though highly advanced at the time and now abandoned) I was wondering if anybody had any favourite IBM remarketers they turned to when in need of IBM unobtanium, or were chummy with any warehouse managers... I'm willing to throw money at this one, it's too close to being Really Cool to not. (: For those unfamiliar with the Thinkpad Power Series line, they are IBM's brief foray into the RS/6000 laptop market. The 850 sports a 100 MHz PPC 603e (not speedy) and a surprising array of multimedia capabilities (including NTSC video I/O), and runs AIX up to 4.1.5, or 4.2.something if one feels lucky. I'd appreciate any leads anybody could pass on. ok r.

26 years, 9 months

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OT - Rantish, but a warning

by jim＠calico.litterbox.com

Way off topic here, and rantish to boot, but just to give y'all a heads up - Don't install Internet Explorer 5. Bunches of reasons, but my big one is this: If you are ill advised enough to uninstall explorer 4, you *can't* get 5 off your system. And at least when I tried it has destabilized my system to the point my desktop crashes about every 10 minutes. I'll be migrating to BeOS as soon as they mail my copy to me. *grumble* On the other hand, and considerably more on topic, the new hobbiest media for openVMS is supposedly going to be available on the 18th of this month from http://www.montagar.com/hobbyist/media.html. -- Jim Strickland jim(a)DIESPAMMERSCUMcalico.litterbox.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vote Meadocrat! Bill and Opus in 2000 - Who ELSE is there? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

26 years, 9 months

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Australia: 8080A chips, eproms, dynamic rams, i/o chips, data books

by davhos＠magna.com.au

I have four 8080 computer systems to dispose of. They were used in a dedicated industrial application - not as a readily reprogrammable system. Some of the chips may however be of use to someone - preferably someone who can collect from Chatswood, Sydney Australia. The main chips are (I am only listing chips in sockets) 4 off 8080A about 200 dynamic memory chips. some are marked 4030, others 4060. they are also referred to as 2107B-4 in the documentation. about 25 eproms type 1702A about 12 off 8212 i/o port chips about 30 off chips marked SN74S412. I cannot find this in my old data book but from the circuit they appear to be doing the same job as 8212 Also available are Intel data catalogues from 1976 and 1977 and a Signetics Bipolar and Mos memory databook dated 1977 David

26 years, 9 months

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Kermit-11 user manual

by davhos＠magna.com.au

Is anybody interested in a copy of a kermit-11 user manual dated 1985 I don't have the software just the manual. Kermit-11 is a file transfer program that runs under RT-11 and posibly other PDP11 systems such as RSTS, RSX, TSX David

26 years, 9 months

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My "Fresh Meat" at Easter Forli' Hamfest (Re: Fresh Meat)

by chemif＠mbox.queen.it

At 17:17 15/05/99 +1, Hans wrote: >> >I just picked up a Copmaq Portable PLUS (DM 35), a >> >Portable III (DM 40), >> >Is there any site with information on the Compaq Portabele III ? Yesterday and today I "lived" inside the pavillions of Forli' expocenter where every year take place the Easter Hamfest. I have also picked a Compaq Portable II at 26 Eu (abt.27 U$D) It's a 8086 luggable machine with CRT -> VERY HEAVY! I've also picked: -WISE WY 3216-40 (@ 15 EU no monitor)It's a 386 with the processor and the RAM mounted in two different ISA cards, linked thru a upper connector. The keyboard is the classical WY 160 grey terminal keyboard with mmj connector. The system has a nice LCD retro-illuminated display and a big Megnetic Peripherals MFM (noisy) disk that reached the edge of his days. -C=ommodore PC 20 III (@ only 13 EU, no monitor) mint conditions 3,5 fdd probably a 286. -Some printers (bought not as vintage machines) - HP 320, HP520 (both @ 57 EU) - 2x Epson FX850 @ 35 EU each (they were used by REUTERS somewhere) The man that sold me the Wyse has also a Mannesmann Tally 8 bit optical tape reader @62 EU. I saw a very similar device inside a frontpanel of a automatic plasma welding machine as a numeric controller. I have taken a picture with my digital camera and I will put it on a webpage someday (I just started a HTML/Frontpage course this week) The reader was new inside its carton box and the man told that he still have 15 available. Another couple of yummy think I've seen where a Sinclair ZX 81 and a TIMEX 1000 The bad new where the prices (please seat safetly): 150 EU the first :( and abt. 220 EU the second!!! :o >P.S.: and speaking of today, new members of my junk yard are: snip! >Olivetti CTV 250 Typewriter/Textprocessor (back in the 80s, Olivetti >had the most impressive design, not just grey boxes - I still would >love to get hands on one of these small BASIC able 'handheld' systems >as they where in unse in a lot of Cambio (Money Change) shops - top >notch design and a cute interior) BASIC "handeld"? can you explain more about that? you mean the P.O.S./BANCOMAT small units with thermal printer? In case you like that kind of Oilvetti design, it's possible to contact many wharehouse near Ivrea that stocks also new machines, E.G. the TE550 teletype machine that I've bought new @ 92 EU while 3 years ago it was sold to the National Postal Service @ abt. 2500 EU!! ;D Ciao Riccardo Romagnoli <chemif(a)mbox.queen.it> I-47100 Forl?

26 years, 9 months

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Northstar Update

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I can repair the RAM 16 A3 but I don't have the switch settings and <jumper settings (J) to set it to start at 2000H. What are these? Is that a NS ram 16? I have a mod of the MDS-A3 (SD) controller to put Phantom/ on the bus. However the card has to respect it. The address hole needed for the controller is from E800 thru EFFFh. <Also, I have a RAM 16 A2 board that I can try. Are the switch settings <and the jumper settings on it the same as the A3 to start at location <2000H? Dont ahve them for that card. Never used any of the NS* ram cards. <Finally, will NSDOS run in 16K ram? I see no indication in the manuals <that it won't but it's a good question to ask anyway. NSdos runs fine in 8k! the dos is d00H (DD 3328) or a00(SD 2560) large and starts at 2000. Basic however does fit in 16k but barely. So happens I'm resurecting a NS*Horizon I got a few weeks back. Mine is however working just fine once I set up the serial for my standard setup and to match the Horizon I've had for 21 years. Allison

26 years, 9 months

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FYI - Classic items at JDR

by rcini＠email.msn.com

Hello, all: While looking at the new JDR Microdevices catalog, a few items jumped out: 1. S100 bus connectors #100P-WW $1.99 2. AppleBus connectors #50P-WW $2.99 3. CBM/KIM/AIM #44P-WW $0.99 4. Intel 8272 FDC $0.99 5. CTS256AL2 (text-to-speech) $4.99 6. 1793 FDC $7.99 7. TMS99532 (modem chip) $3.99 [ Rich Cini/WUGNET [ ClubWin!/CW7 [ MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking [ Collector of "classic" computers [ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ [ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/pdp11/ <---------------------------- reply separator

26 years, 9 months

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Dayton Hamvention report

by donm＠cts.com

On Sun, 16 May 1999, Ethan Dicks wrote: ________O/_______ O\ > P.S. - where's a good place to get a Kaypro boot disk? I have a licensed > copy of teledisk so I should be able to make them from bits, yes? E-mail me the EPROM number(s) that are on a paper label on the chip and I can send a TeleDisk image to you. - don donm(a)cts.com *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Don Maslin - Keeper of the Dina-SIG CP/M System Disk Archives Chairman, Dina-SIG of the San Diego Computer Society Clinging tenaciously to the trailing edge of technology. Sysop - Elephant's Graveyard (CP/M) Z-Node 9 - 619-454-8412 *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--* see old system support at http://www.psyber.com/~tcj/ visit the "Unofficial" CP/M Web site at http://www.devili.iki.fi/cpm/ with Mirror at http://www.mathcs.emory.edu/~cfs/cpm/

26 years, 9 months

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Mop booting (8) 3100'S ?

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<the /usr subtree. The remaining files under "/" take up around 10-12Megs, <then you'll also need separate swap files which adds another X Megs per <machine. You can probably get by with more of the setup being shared, but Has anyone considered the hack that is done under VMS for small disk impared systems? IE: net or local boot, local swap everything else from the net host. Then the seap drive can be a small 20-40mb drive and the swapping is faster if local even with PIO. that would yeild a fairly fast system that wouldn't beat teh disks to death on the host. Allison

26 years, 9 months

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LCDs (Re: PDP-8/e frontpanel pictures)

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Chuck McManis <cmcmanis(a)mcmanis.com> wrote: > Ethan Dicks wrote: > > I'm very familiar with them; I wrote the LCDProc driver for the B.G.Micro > > "PIC-an-LCD" serial<->LCD adapter chip. > > I did some further research on them and these Optrex LCDs have an LED > backlight, are 160 x 128 can be run in graphics mode... Fancy. I would have loved to have seen graphical LCDs. I've only had the text-mode (with programmable characters) to play with. Have you been to the LCDProc site? (lcdproc.omnipotent.net) It's the one that I'm most familiar with, and is very well along the development chain. > I'm pretty excited. I went back on Saturday and they were all gone (doh!) > So I've only go the two. Bummer. -ethan _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com

26 years, 9 months

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Acorn RiscPC 600 (OT - only 5 years old)

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On May 16, 16:22, Tony Duell wrote: > [BBC power supplies] > I'd love to see circuits for all the versions, or at least circuit > descriptions. On the other hand, Acorn PSU schematics are generally hard > to find for some odd reason. I never saw schematics for any of the black ones; I've got the diagram for the Astec as you know. I once did have a note of what the chopper was -- or rather, I had a part number that worked. I worked for Computer Field Maintenance for a while, and we used to repair them (though they didn't actually fail very often. They seem to be pretty robust). BSR made a copy under license, but the BSR ones don't seem to be so good -- not so well regulated, for a start, so not so tolerant of overloads. > All my Beebs have the traditional Astec SMPSUs. BTW, does anyone know > what the chopper transistor is in these units? It's the same in virtually > all Astec supplies - a TO3 can on a small PCB/heatsink mounted at right > angles to the main board. There is never a number on it. All I can remember is that it's NPN, I think. I'll dig through some old files if I can figure out a way to read the old winchester backups, and see... -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

26 years, 9 months

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Altair, pfeh! I own a Univac.

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

Well, okay, parts of one. Big parts. For now it is in storage. Guess I have to get a basement next. I'm not even sure exactly what I've got. It is from a Univac 9200. Looks like a line printer and control console in one very big box, about the size of desk, but maybe twice as tall. Switches & lights, and discrete transistors. It was the box that had the "Univac 9200" label on it, so maybe (hopefully) it is the CPU. When I move it >from its current temporary home to a more permanent one, I'll get pix & details. There is another box that I didn't get, but may still end up with after its winner picks a few bits out of it. Seems _he_ actually has customers still running these things, and needs a few specific parts. So even if I get it, it won't be complete. But I can't complain, with those parts going to keep another Univac running. Also got a card punch, which I got home by partially disassembling it, to make it fit in my car. When I opened it up, I found a three ring binder labelled "Univac Servicing Documents" - schematics, mech drawings, all sorts of good stuff! So, anybody know anything about 9200's? A web search didn't turn up much. Introduced in June 1967, 8K of memory, that's about it. Bill. (Man, this is awesome!)

26 years, 9 months

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PDP-8/e frontpanel pictures

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Chuck McManis <cmcmanis(a)mcmanis.com> wrote: > Hi Ethan, > > Good luck, I've scoured the Flea Market twice (once on Friday and once > today) and there just ain't any DEC stuff here. Not much at all. I spotted a few uVAX 2000's and a uVAX 3100. > I did find a PDP-8 core stack but it was in a display case at my friends > office where we got some free tickets (sigh.) Ugh. > I did pick up some Nifty LCDs though for $7 that I'm going to use to create > a "disk bay console" ala the Linux stuff. I'm very familiar with them; I wrote the LCDProc driver for the B.G.Micro "PIC-an-LCD" serial<->LCD adapter chip. From the white tent in the back corner of the flea market, I got a box of 20x2 florescent displays for $20 (different protocol, same concept as the LCDs). If you want to write offline about interfacing LCDs, let me know. -ethan _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com

26 years, 9 months

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Dayton Hamvention report

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

As has already been mentioned, Dayton is _not_ the place to go to look for used DEC parts. I only spotted a couple of table-top uVAXen. I did get a Kaypro 2 for $25 (and the kid dragged to my car!), a $2 VIC-20 with $1 C2N and some modern stuff. I didn't spend anywhere near as much as I usually do. Not all that many things lept out at me. There were scads of $5 and $10 Pentium boards, crates of ISA NICs and lots of stuff that just isn't all that interesting. I did make the T-shirts, one from the photo of a working PDP-8/e and one >from the scan of the marketing literature. The text above and below the picture said: Wanted: PDP8's Report all sightings to classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu Several people walked up and started conversations based on seeing two of us wandering around with a PDP on our backs. Nobody had any spares. :-( P.S. - where's a good place to get a Kaypro boot disk? I have a licensed copy of teledisk so I should be able to make them from bits, yes? _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com

26 years, 9 months

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Acorn RiscPC 600 (OT - only 5 years old)

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On May 15, 19:10, Tony Duell wrote: > I did have the circuits in front of me. I always find it better to argue > from possible facts :-).... But that takes all the fun (risk) out of it :-) > > There were no less than three versions of the black linear PSU. None of > > them were satisfactory, but only one, the "adapter and converter", earned > > the obvious nickname. > > I think I've only seen one of them. Which is the particularly bad one? It has a label identifying it as "Adapter/Eliminator" or similar. They're *very* rare, partly because Acorn tried to recall them, and partly because not many were sent out before the problem was spotted. There's one fairly common one, which *isn't* particularly prone to go "phut", and that's probably what you have. The only thing wrong with that one is that it doesn't have much spare capacity, and therefore has no connector for a disk (or w.h.y.). -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

26 years, 9 months

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WANTED: VMS Orange Wall

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<programming job was to upgrade an 11/780 from 2.4 to 3.0. It took most of <weekend, not helped by the fact that you had to install different versions <of the microcode at various points during the upgrade, and it took 30+ Yes, there were a lot of people that suggested the next upgrades should be easier. <minutes to discover that you'd got the wrong one in. The 8" floppy on an <11/78x was not renowned for speed. ISTR that the interface was one bit wide The LSI-11 to vax hardware was wider I think 16bits bt the microcode was some 60-80 bits so it took a long tome to build a few words of uCode. Allison

26 years, 9 months

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WANTED: VMS Orange Wall

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I want to do assembly programming and other things on my MVaxII that <are generally not covered in the Manager's manual etc. It just seems <that every now and then someone has an orange wall that needs a home. Or keep a look for the gray wall (later version of similar material). If memory serves orange was V4.XX (maybe V3 too) and gray was V5.XX. And yes they are s significant resource. About six months back I lucked into a copy of the gray wall (30 volumes!). Would never part with it and it's my first set even though Microvaxen were something I was involved with since '85! Allison

26 years, 9 months

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sun mice

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Lawrence LeMay <lemay(a)cs.umn.edu> wrote: > Sun mice are Mouse Systems mice, of course. I have one Model M2 mouse, > which is black, and thus is most likely a mouse for a Sun 2 computer. > I have many Model 3 and 4 mice, which have the brass pins on the side of > the connector. The one sun 3/50 keyboard I have is using a Model 3 > with pins, so i'm assuming these are all for use on type 3 keyboards? > The strange thing is, I have several Model M3 mice that dont have those > brass pins on the connector. So i'm wondering if these are also usable > on older sun 2 computers, or if sun is just playing mind games with me.. Sun is playing mind games with you. You will know that you've reached the bone-us level when you have in front of you a type 3 mouse with the pins in its RJ-11 plug and a type 3 keyboard with a standard RJ-11 jack that won't accept the pins. I have a type 2 mouse here. It's black with gray buttons, and has a Sun sticker on top with the purple, on-its-corner Sun logo and black "sun" text. On bottom there's a Mouse Systems label with the following dot-matrix imprint: MSC 900783-002/01 SN MSC BQ00226 MADE IN USA Type 2: keyboard and mouse both have RJ-11 plugs The 2/120 can have RJ-11 jacks for this combination; both devices get plugged separately into the CPU cabinet (but I think the connectors go to the bwtwo or other framebuffer). Type 3: keyboard has RJ-11 jack for mouse and DA15 plug to system; mouse daisy-chains through keyboard The 2/50, 3/50, 3/60, and I guess most Sun 3s excepting the 3/80 use this DA15 connector. The 2/50 came with an adaptor box that plugged into the DA15 socket on the back of the CPU and brought out two RJ-11 jacks. The adaptor box works on Sun 3s too. Type 4: keyboard has mini-DIN plug and socket(s) for mouse; mouse daisy-chains through keyboard There's also an adaptor box that plugs into the DA15 socket that brings out a mini-DIN socket so you can use a Type 4 keyboard and mouse on your Sun 3 -- I guess Sun ran out of Type 3 keyboards before the service life ended or something. Or maybe people with Sun 3s just wanted to use Type 4 keyboards? (Ewww, but then I don't like the Type 4 keyboard.) Somewhere along the way (I think midstream Type 4, or maybe when the Type 5 keyboard was introduced?) the mice changed to a high-resolution flavor with a denser grid on the optical mouse pad. Predictably, old and new mice and pads don't work with each other. -Frank McConnell

26 years, 9 months

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IBM 286 Help Request

by snegri＠azstarnet.com

A friend gave me his old IBM 286 which I'd like to revive for my wife's use. When I power on, a red light indicates the machine is looking at the 5.25 floppy drive, then I hear two beeps, and nothing at all appears on the screen. I'm thinking that maybe the BIOS somehow got trashed but I don't have a clue what to do about it. I don't think there's anything wrong with the monitor. I think the computer just doesn't seem to know it has a hard drive and monitor connected. Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. I tried removing and reseating all the cards because that's sometimes solved problems when I had my own 286, but it didn't do any good with this machine. Thanks in advance. Sam -- ___________________________________________ Sam Negri P.O. Box 85132 Tucson, Arizona 85754-5132 For a taste of Arizona, visit my home page: http://www.azstarnet.com/~snegri/ -- ___________________________________________ Sam Negri P.O. Box 85132 Tucson, Arizona 85754-5132 For a taste of Arizona, visit my home page: http://www.azstarnet.com/~snegri/

26 years, 9 months

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Tiara Arcnet LANCard AT??

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Does anyone have the jumper settings for the Tiara Arcnet LANCard AT? I recently got one of these cards, and all of the jumpers were missing. Does anyone know where to get drivers for this card? I've tried to find Tiara's website, but I can't find one anywhere. The only one that may have been it (www.tiaratech.com) doesn't seem to have an index page. ThAnX, ///--->>> -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1>

26 years, 9 months

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Size, weight of a PDP-11/83?

by gregorym＠cadvision.com

Hi all. Through a lovely bit of serendipity, I've just been offered a PDP-11/83 that's local to me. Before I accept, can anyone help me with the following questions: How big is this classic likely to be? Most PDPs I've seen were refridgerator sized, with washing machine sized disk drives, tape drives, etc. Is that about what I can expect, or is the 11/83 one of the later, smaller 11s? How heavy might it be? Would it be a lifting job for 2? 4? 8? Does it require special power? My home isn't wired for anything beyond household current. Any help would be much appreciated. I'd love to save this machine, but there are limits to my space/money/housemate's patience. Alternatively, if anyone else is in or around Calgary, AB, and would be interested in this machine, e-mail me off list. If I decide not to take it, I can put you in touch with the owner. Thanks in advance. Mark Gregory At 09:15 PM 5/14/99 -0400, you wrote: > > >>Looks like Megan's the victim of an eBay gender-bending :-) > >Seems so... > >>BTW, what exactly is a "mamoth" housing, anyway?? > >I think it is due to the fact that the people posting are used >to PCs and more contemporary machines, and so a pdp-11 in an >H960 is MAMOTH to them... > >:-) > > Megan Gentry > Former RT-11 Developer > >+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ >| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | >| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | >| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | >| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | >| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | >| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | >+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ > >

26 years, 9 months

3
2
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Cleaning My Room

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Dang! I wish I liven in WI. :) -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Lane <kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Monday, March 15, 1999 6:10 PM Subject: FW: Cleaning My Room > Attention, would-be rescuers in or near Milwaukee, WI! There's a >graduating student (Josh Hulbert) looking to get rid of a VAXen and PDP-11 >(unknown model) as freebies. > > If interested, contact him directly. Best of luck! > >-=-=- <break> -=-=- > >Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:26:47 -0600 (CST) >From: Joshua Hulbert <hulbertj(a)msoe.edu> >To: port-vax(a)netbsd.org >Subject: Cleaning My Room >Sender: port-vax-owner(a)netbsd.org >Delivered-To: port-vax(a)netbsd.org > >Hello All, > >I will be graduating at the end of this quarter and moving several hundred >miles away from my dorm, so I need to minimize the amount of stuff I take >with me. I have the following VAX-related equipment, free for the taking: > >VS2000, with VR-160-DA, LK201, and puck-mouse. I have the 3-meter long >cable for this one. It has an RD-54, and a RAM expansion to 20MB IIRC. I >know it boots and runs NetBSD just fine, but there is nothing on the RD54. > >PDP-11: I know next to nothing about this thing. I picked it up for $10 >at American Science and Surplus. From what I could gather, it may have >been a terminal server or something. It doesn't have enough RAM to load >an OS, but it has some funky ROM card. If anyone is interested, I can >send the M-numbers on the cards in the cage. > >Heres the catch: You have to come get it, as shipping would exceed the >value of these boxes. I live in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin (USA). >Again, if anyone is interested, I can send part numbers on all the parts. > >Joshua Hulbert >Senior Electrical Engineer >Milwaukee School of Engineering > > >-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies >http://www.bluefeathertech.com >Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com >SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905) >"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own >human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..." >

26 years, 9 months

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Size, weight of a PDP-11/83?

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<How big is this classic likely to be? Typically one rack or possible a BA23 pedestal may be a BA123 end table. <Most PDPs I've seen were refridgerator sized, with washing machine <sized disk drives, tape drives,etc. Is that about what I can expect, < or is the 11/83 one of the later, smaller 11s? Smaller though It could be in a single rack with a big drive or have big drives in seperate racks. The cpu card is however a single board about 10.5x9 inches. (It's mid->late80s design) <How heavy might it be? Would it be a lifting job for 2? 4? 8? If in H960 (31dx21Wx*h * can be 30,40,50,60 inches typically 40) rack two as it can easily weigh 200-400 pounds depending on what in the rack with it. all of the weight is the rack and peripherals. If ba23 (30x24x9 inches, pedestal) about 90 pounds, ba123 (28x26x13 inches, end table) 110pounds. <Does it require special power? My home isn't wired for anything beyond <household current. Not unless it's set up with external RA8x drives. The basic system used MFM 5.25 drives and was not a power hog. My 11/73 and with Rx02 and and RL02 is very light on power(2x->3x a PC) and it's of similar scale. An excellent hobbiest machine of the small iron class. <Any help would be much appreciated. I'd love to save this machine, but <there are limits to my space/money/housemate's patience. Grab it! if too big you can pass it on. The 11/83 was a really good machine using the Qbus backplane and generally small in size. It likely most Qbus PDP-11s can be expanded to really immense systems but in the ear it was sold it was most likely a physically small machine. Of the microprocessor version of the PDP-11 (11/03, 11/23, 11/53, 11/73, 11/83 and the 11/93) it's one of the faster ones and a good catch. (hint {11/05, 11/10, 11/20, 11/3x, 11/4x, 11/60 11/70 11/84} it's a big 11 with unibus and (11/03, 11/23, 11/53, 11/73, 11/83. 11/93) it's a micro based 11 with Qbus and generally smaller. It can run RT-11, RSTS, RSX-11 and most of the *nix versions with 2.11 being a good fit. The PUPs list (pups(a)minnie.adfa.oz.au) can set you up with a license for all PDP-11 unix for 100$ and also has an archive. Allison

26 years, 9 months

1
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Fwd: Decmate II Wanted

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

Kindly reply to Gary, not to me: >------------------------------------------------------------------- > Wanted: Operational "Decmate II" system, manufactured by Digital > Equipment Corporation in the mid-1980's. I live in Seattle. > Please contact Gary Christenson: stlhdr(a)scn.org >-------------------------------------------------------------------

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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OT, but Sort of an emergency...

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Does anyone have or know where to find a 2.5" to 2.5" hard drive adapter (lets you use a laptop drive in a desktop)? My laptop just died (vertical/horizontal lines on screen, and that's it), and I NEED to get a report off of the HD. ThAnX! ///--->>> -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1>

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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DG NOVA 2 (3 of them) For sale.

by kstumpf＠unusual.on.ca

These Data General NOVA 2s are being sold AS IS. They are not in racks. They are the 10 slot version. They are in very good external condition. The DG name plate has been removed and replaced with an OEM's (STS - Systems Technologies Services), otherwise everything is DG original. Each has the following 3 boards: * CPU * Basic I/O * 16K core memory These computers run from 110VAC and come with a regular domestic, 3-prong electrical plug and cord. No documentation. US$175 each plus shipping. Depending on where you live and considering the dimensions and weight of each NOVA, shipping will be between US$60 to 100. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Kevin Stumpf * Unusual systems * www.unusual.on.ca +1.519.744.2900 * EST/EDT GMT - 5 Collector - Commercial Mainframes & Minicomputers from the 50s, 60s, & 70s and control panels and consoles. Author & Publisher - A Guide to Collecting Computers & Computer Collectibles * ISBN 0-9684244-0-6 .

26 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

IBM PC 5150 with no drives?

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Wasn't a 5 or 10 MB FH HD available for the PC? -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Monday, March 15, 1999 7:11 AM Subject: Re: IBM PC 5150 with no drives? >No, The PC and XT both came with FH drives. The XT also came with a FH hard >drive. > > Joe > >At 08:35 AM 3/15/99 -0500, you wrote: >>Was the 5150 the only one delivered with full-height drives? I've seen >>both on the 5160, but don't know which is original. >> >>On Mon, 15 Mar 1999, Lawrence Walker wrote: >> >>> On 14 Mar 99 at 23:19, Merle K. Peirce wrote: >>> >>> > There wasa also a 5162 PC. We've got a couple of them. Does anyone >know >>> > how they were set up? full height or half height floppies? Any hard >drives? >>> > >>> > On Sun, 14 Mar 1999, Tony Duell wrote: >>> > >>> > > > >>> > > > >My understanding is that some of the very first 5150s did ship >with no >>> > > > >>> > > > I have heard people talk about a 5150 a few times, where are some >good pics >>> > > > and specs so I can appear less dumb in the future? >>> > > >>> > > It's the original (1981-ish) IBM Personal Computer. The other common >(for >>> > > this group) numbers are : >>> > > >>> > > 5150 PC >>> > > 5151 MDA monitor >>> > > 5152 Graphics printer >>> > > 5153 CGA monitor >>> > > 5154 EGA monitor >>> > > 5155 Portable PC (sewing machine style case) >>> > > >>> > > 5160 PC/XT >>> > > 5161 Expansion Chassis >>> > > >>> > > 5170 PC/AT >>> > > >>> > > 5140 PC convertable (laptop) ? >>> > > >>> > > Now why do I remeber the above? >>> > > >>> > > -tony >>> > > >>> > >>> >>> That one set me searching my books and files. >>> It's an XT 286 Scott Mueller's book has full system architecture specs. >>> >>> 80286 cpu at 6mhz w/0 wait states >>> 640k mem >>> 1.2M 1/2 ht fdd and 20m hdd came standard but it will >>> support an additional 1/2 ht. Either 5 1/4, or 3 1/2 >>> 720/1440. >>> Damn ! Another to add to my "stuff" >>> >>> To Tony's list could also be added >>> 3270 PC an XT with 3270 connectivity >>> 5279 ? it's monitor (have one but it's buried) >>> >>> XT 370 giving connectivity to and emulation of the S/370 >>> >>> AT 3270 like the XT model but based on an AT >>> >>> 5144 PC Convertable mono monitor >>> 5145 PC Convertable colour monitor >>> >>> And then at the height of his power the Big Blue God created >>> the mighty PS/2 8580, MCA , and VGA >>> >>> ciao larry >>> lwalker(a)interlog.com >>> >> >>M. K. Peirce >>Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc. >>215 Shady Lea Road, >>North Kingstown, RI 02852 >> >>"Casta est qui nemo rogavit." >> >> - Ovid >> >> > >

26 years, 9 months

5
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PDP-8/e frontpanel pictures

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

Hi Ethan, Good luck, I've scoured the Flea Market twice (once on Friday and once today) and there just ain't any DEC stuff here. One guy had a box of Q-bus boards with a uVAX-II CPU plus some 8MB memory boards. If I had need of them they might have been a deal at $10/each. And the guts of an 11/34a. Neither looked like it has been treated well. I did find a PDP-8 core stack but it was in a display case at my friends office where we got some free tickets (sigh.) I did pick up some Nifty LCDs though for $7 that I'm going to use to create a "disk bay console" ala the Linux stuff. --Chuck

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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IBM PCs

by mbg＠world.std.com

About a week or so ago, I asked about IBM PCs... I had received a few when we saved the decsystem-10s (they had been used as consoles). I wasn't sure what they were (and hadn't really looked at their model numbers) and asked how I might identify IBM PCs... I got lots of good info... and today (while cleaning the museum, er, my apartment) I put them together and powered them up. They both work... One is a 5160, one is a 5150. The 5160 has what I think is a 10Mbyte hard drive and a full height 5.25" floppy. The 5150 has again a 10Mbyte hard drive and a half height 5.25" floppy. Are the floppies what account for the difference betweeen the 5160 and the 5150, or is there something else? Otherwise the monitors, keyboards and units work fine... I think I may put one up on ebay... L@@K!! RARE!!! :-) Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

26 years, 9 months

2
1
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sun mice

by lemay＠cs.umn.edu

Is there a sure-fire way to determine if a sun mouse is a type 2 versis type 3? It looks like the mice for type 3 have little side-pins on the connector, so is it reasonable to assume that mice without this feature are for sun-2 series computers? I figured i'd go through the box of old sun mice at work, since they are all so old as to predate any hardware we still have in operation. Looks like there are quite a few sun3 mice, possibly a few sun 2. -Lawrence LeMay

26 years, 9 months

2
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HP-HIL mice (and some questions)

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Hi! does anyone have any HP-HIL mice? I recently got a keyboard for my Vectra RS/25c, but now I need a mouse for it. Anyone know what drivers I can use for it? Also - are there any drivers for the [HP-HIL] keyboard? There's some keys on it that don't appear to do anything (such as "reset" and "menu"). There's also some blank (programmable?) keys. When I boot, it says "keyboard connector not functioning" I'm assuming this is the 5-pin DIN AT connector, but when I hook a keyboard up to it, it won't function correctly (F-keys and number pad won't work). The HP-HIL keyboard works fine, but I get the error. ThAnX, ///--->>> -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1>

26 years, 9 months

2
1
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GRiDCASE 1520 back together

by ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca

The GRiDCASE 1520 is back together. I think it was easier to reassemble than to disassemble. Condition: exactly the same as when I started, but with a little less black paint (from where I used a screwdriver to try to pry the case apart). I even left the battery in there. Hard drive's still not spinning up, clock is still not set. Oh, and the Compass still has a crazy clock, too. -- Doug Spence ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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PC/36 et al.

by a2k＠one.net

Hello, I have the following for 1.2*shipping: IBM PC/36 5364 miniframe Amiga 500 in pieces, non-working Kevin Stewart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After sifting through the overwritten remaining blocks of Luke's home directory, Luke and PDP-1 sped away from /u/lars, across the surface of the Winchester riding Luke's flying read/write head. PDP-1 had Luke stop at the edge of the cylinder overlooking /usr/spool/uucp. "Unix-to-Unix Copy Program;" said PDP-1. "You will never find a more wretched hive of bugs and flamers. We must be cautious." -- DECWARS ____________________________________________________________________ | Kevin Stewart | "I am a secret | | KC8BLL ----------| Wrapped in a mystery -Milford High School | | a2k(a)one.net | Wrapped in an enigma Drama Tech Dept. | |jlennon(a)nether.net| And drizzled in some tasty chocolate stuff.| --------------------------------------------------------------------

26 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Compass clock?

by ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca

Hi, When I was using the GRiD Compass yesterday, I noticed that the system clock was frozen at 17-Nov-1985, 9:01 p.m. I tried setting it for 14-May-1999, 9:46 a.m. I thought it would b frozen again at that time, but when I powered the beast up again to make this call I was surprised to see that the clock had advanced to 9:56 a.m.! :) And instead of the 15th, it says it is the 25th! Is this an early Y2K problem? :) Is there an evil battery inside, about to leak all over my precious bubble memory modules? Oh, and BTW, how much bubble memory am I supposed to have? Currently it has "334 in use, 52 free". That's 386 units. It says "Usage (in 1000s of characters)" beneath the system memory report (I can look at these things from inside GRiDVT100, luckily) but I'm not sure if it applies to bubble memory as well as normal system memory. After all, the bubble memory is where the filesystem lives, which is a bit different. My system mem is currently "System: 153 Application: 51 Data: 18 Free: 40". That's 262,000, which is about 256 when divided by 1024. Is GRiD-OS eating most of my memory? What a hog! ;) I found the little blurb in Popular Science, August 1982, p.42, and it says that the machine comes with 256K each of bubble and normal memory. And for $8000. Was there an expensive option to get more bubble memory? Or is that what differentiates the 1100 from the 1101? Oh yeah, where is the OS stored? And applications like GRiDWrite and GRiDVT100? The VT100 emulator seems to load slowly enough, which implies that it's in bubble. So, like, if I reformat my bubble memory, I'm toast, right? I would very much like to have some sort of backup of everything in bubble memory. I don't seem to have XMODEM or any other transfer protocols on this thing. Argh. -- Doug Spence ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/

26 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Acorn RiscPC 600 (OT - only 5 years old)

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On May 15, 0:45, Tony Duell wrote: > To get back to the video ULA, it contains (AFAIK) no DACs, because the > Beeb essentially worked with 3 TTL level signals for the video output > (that were encoded outside the ULA for composite PAL). Said ULA contains > just about all the video data path logic between the RAM data bus and the > RGB outputs (in other words the palette, pixel mux/shift register, > bits/pixel control logic, etc). That's most of the video data path. The > other part of the display system - the address generation - is provided > by the 6845. Yes, you're right there, of course. I must remember to engage brain before putting keyboard in gear ;-) Especially when short of sleep. I've worked on literally hundreds if not thousands of the things, so I should have remembered a bit better! > I know that darn linear PSU. It had separate 7805s for the 3 outputs that > fed the main board.... There were no less than three versions of the black linear PSU. None of them were satisfactory, but only one, the "adapter and converter", earned the obvious nickname. > All the docs I've seen imply that any device connected to the tube or the > 1MHz bus shouldn't draw significant power from the 5V line on those > ports. Connecting to the 'disk drive power connector' on the PSU can was > OK, of course. But most (all?) external devices had their own PSUs. If you draw too much from one connector, on Issue 3 or earlier PCBs, you can end up with a significant voltage drop. It's OK on later ones. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

26 years, 9 months

2
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Semi-OT: MacOS 8.5-8.6 and Sherlock

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

This is mainly off topic, but deals with some interesting ways to find info on the Internet. Plus I've got some cool classic computer related links. After sitting at MacOS 8.1 on my PowerMac for around a year, thanks to 8.5 causeing some problems for me when I tried to upgrade when it came out (these problems haven't been an issue since December), I went ahead and went straight to MacOS 8.6 last night. I've been hearing about this great new search tool that was introduced in MacOS 8.5 and has been updated in 8.6. Last night briefly I gave it a try and was impressed, so this morning while working on my morning pot of coffee, I've been playing with it. I used PDP-11/44 as the seed, and have dug up some really cool classic computer related stuff. If you get a chance to try it out, I'd recommend running a few searches on computers that you're interested in. Here are a couple interesting links. http://www.tec.puv.fi/~s99137/index1.html An interesting page of old computers, including a PDP-11/44. This page led me to the next link. http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/retro/ is "The Retrocomputing Museum", at first I thought it was one of the listmembers pages, and then I found out it's maintained by Eric S. Raymond (yes, of Open Source fame), and someone else. http://www.vaxarchive.org/compmus/kees/garage.html http://www.vaxarchive.org/hw/index.html Nice page of links about VAX Hardware http://www.telnet.hu/hamster/dr/ Akos Varga has been busy it looks like! http://www.telnet.hu/hamster/dr/ka630.html Didn't someone recently want info on the KA630 this page looks worth a look! Or for the KA650 http://www.telnet.hu/hamster/dr/ka650.html OK, I'm done wasting everyones time, please forgive my enthusiasm for something new and cool from Apple that is a cool way to find Classic Computer stuff. Oh, and yes, I realize there is probably some web site out there that will give you simular capabilities. Zane | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator | | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast | | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |

26 years, 9 months

1
0
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Upcoming Haul: DEC Gear and Documentation

by mcquiggi＠sfu.ca

Hi Gang: I learned recently of a number of pdp-11s and Vaxen going surplus in the Vancouver area. Looks like various LSI 11s, spare parts, boards, docs. Peripherals include 9 track and (likely) DAT tape, RD53 and RD54 drives, some SMD drives. Vaxes are of the Microvax III type. Full set of VMS docs, version 4.x. Also an optical disk drive, unknown make/model, WORM type, about 18" platters. A total of about 4-5 systems. More info will be posted as I get it. Kevin --- Kevin McQuiggin VE7ZD mcquiggi(a)sfu.ca

26 years, 9 months

3
4
0 0

Mac II stuff needed/wanted

by roblwill＠usaor.net

I'm not sure if this in On-topic or Off- topic. What year was the Mac II introduced? Anyway - Does anyone have, or know where I can get, for a fairly low price a MIDI card for a Mac II? I'm also looking for a network card for a Mac II. ThAnX, -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1>

26 years, 9 months

13
18
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Subscription

by Ferrousp＠aol.com

Good morning. I received this address from Brian Mahoney and since I collect old computers, he says I should be on your mailing list. I am always in desperate need of restoration information. Can you please tell me how to subscribe? Thank you, Tim Knight

26 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Acorn RiscPC 600 (OT - only 5 years old)

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On May 15, 0:47, Tony Duell wrote: > I wasn't really moaning about the AUG - it's an excellent manual (and you > get mine over my deaad body ;-)). It's just that most BBC hackers had > that manual and not much else, so that stuff that wasn't covered in that > book tends to be thought of as 'undocumented'. I've still got mine, thanks! It's a pity some dealers were not inclined to be more forthcoming, because Acorn did make a lot of documentation available, and would often provide it to users who wrote in; but dealers were always able to get it for customers, and even had a system (SID) to obtain lots of information, upgrade software, etc, via dial-up. They also had a large 2-volume set of 2" ring binders with diagrams, info, etc (that's where those System diagrams I gave you came from). -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

26 years, 9 months

1
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