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

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

I am not expecting a whole crowd to respond, but even one individual would be helpful. I also realize that very few individuals even know about the RT-11 Symbolic Debugger, SD:, which is a pseudo device driver what is usually activated by a BPT instruction within a user's program - as opposed to having to LINK in the ODT code. If any reading this uses either V01.00 or especially Y01.16 of the Symbolic Debugger from V05.06 of RT-11, and in particular the SDHX.SYS variant, I would appreciate some feedback on some bug fixes and enhancements that have been made. Some include: (a) Saving Program Counter Addresses (b) Support to activate other selected jobs such as KED (ONLY jobs that do NOT enter SD:) while the user's job is stopped at a breakpoint (c) Single Step Mode to include checking on the Number of Stack Additions and Subtractions - in progress (d) Reduced Low Memory (e) Interactive SET commands for the "Symbol;V" commands (f) SET commands for Saving Program Counter Addresses (g) Help text for the enhancements (h) Any other enhancements that you can think of that can be implemented from a technical point of view - feedback will be very MUCH appreciated All of the changes required more than three times the original 8192 bytes of extended memory required by Y01.16 of the SDHX.SYS variant. Jerome Fine

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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Honeywell Series 60 (Level 66)/6000 aka DATANET 355/6600 machine language (Charles Anthony)

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2016 13:40:52 -0800 > From: Charles Anthony <charles.unix.pro at gmail.com> > Subject: Honeywell Series 60 (Level 66)/6000 aka DATANET 355/6600 > machine language > > I am trying to fire up a DN6600 emulator and am encountering some > discrepancies between the DD01 documentation and existing software. > > Anyone remember how to program this beast? > > -- Charles > I wish that I kept all of the Honeywell docs that I had. I gave most of what I had to the Boston Computer Museum, so it might be a the CHM. I maintained GECOS and the front end software on a Level 66, with DN355, and 716 front ends. The software modifications to the DN355 were done under contract by Honeywell in Bedford, MA. The 355 and 716s were replaced by a pair Level 6 front ends. I still have the platter from one of the fixed head disks from the 716. If I remember correctly, the 16-bit Level 6 front ends ran modified microcode to make it 18-bits by using the parity bits. -- Michael Thompson

10 years, 5 months

3
2
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PDP-12 restauration in center Germany

by j_hoppe＠t-online.de

Hi, in case somebody needs companions for cross-tests or likes to exchange thoughts: A few month ago we bought a PDP-12 and are restoring she since then. There is no online-diary about progress (the maching is eating up all time), but see here: http://c-c-g.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=311:pdp12-geka… The 12 is complete with no visible damages and has some undocumented add-ons (they always have). Especially a MOS memory extension was plugged off very soon. Luckily we could organize an 95% complete 2nd module set. After console exchange (we had indeed a 2nd one!) and much trouble with cpu logic, we can now execute opcodes with DO and FILL/EXAM the core memory. Contact me if you like to visit us, we're sitting near G?ttingen (between Kassel and Hannover). Joerg

10 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

USO (Unidentified System Unit)

by henk.gooijen＠hotmail.com

Hi list, I was checking one of my rack and saw a rack-mount system unit without any labeling. It consists of a 2-row wire-wrap backplane and a power supply. Looking at the rear side I can read which modules are installed in the backplane. In the upper row are the following modules: M1131 M1131 M306 M112 M111 M205 M205 M3020 8 x upper part of the dual-width M5950 In the lower row are the following modules: M611 M611 M3020 M3020 M113 M205 M205 M205 8 x lower part of the M5950 There are a few slots empty, but those are neither wrapped. I could not find the M5950 nor M3020 in any module list. I did not pull the modules, so I don't know what those modules are. 8 X M5950 suggests something to do with "data path" ... Anybody recognizes this system unit? Thanks, - Henk

10 years, 5 months

1
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Front Panel Update - Video on YouTube

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys I think I now have the very short clip of front panel production at the silk screeners on YouTube Try https://youtu.be/8qi4cveAc3A (go to YouTube first) Rod

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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C=64 stuff FTGH in Ottawa

by mouse＠Rodents-Montreal.ORG

I thought I'd got rid of all my 8-bitters, but apparently not - I just found a C=64 (the 8-bitter, not the recently-mentioned Linux machine in a C=64 case) in storage. The box proves to hold a C=64 proper, a 1541 floppy drive, a C=64-branded power brick (117V 60Hz), and a cable apparently intended for CPU-to-floppy connection (at least, the connectors on the ends fit the 1541 and one of the connectors on the machine). It also held another floppy drive, but I suspect that may actually be completely unrelated to the C=64; it's the same form-factor of floppy, but the connector on the end of the cable is a Berg-style two-rows-of-pins connector, not any of the connectors in obvious evidence on the C=64 itself. This is all FTGH. Currently in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; it might be possible to convince me to ship, but local pickup would really be much preferred - I have very little experience packing such stuff for shipping, selecting carriers, and the like. /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

10 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Honeywell Series 60 (Level 66)/6000 aka DATANET 355/6600 machine language

by charles.unix.pro＠gmail.com

I am trying to fire up a DN6600 emulator and am encountering some discrepancies between the DD01 documentation and existing software. Anyone remember how to program this beast? -- Charles

10 years, 5 months

2
1
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HP 9826/36 keyboard

by pdaguytom＠gmail.com

Just acquired an HP 9826/36, that needs a couple of keyboard switches and keycaps, specifically the EXECUTE switch and the ")" switch. Does anyone have these or a spare keyboard they'd care to sell? I can live with the ) key missing as the switch is sheared at the + only and otherwise operates fine. The EXECUTE switch took a hard hit and sticks at the bottom of its travel. Thanks, Tom .

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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For Sale: MITS Modem board set

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

I have for sale one MITS S-100 modem board set (88 SIOB + MODEM BD). It's in excellent condition physically, unknown functional condition but probably works fine (it's been stored in an anti-static bag). Photos here: http://vintagetech.com/sales/S-100/MITS%20Modem/ Asking $250 or best offer. Thanks! -- Sellam Abraham VintageTech ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintagetech.com Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. The truth is always simple. * * * NOTICE * * * Due to the insecure nature of the medium over which this message has been transmitted, no statement made in this writing may be considered reliable for any purpose either express or implied. The contents of this message are appropriate for entertainment and/or informational purposes only. The right of the people to be secure in their papers against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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s100

by nierveze＠radio-astronomie.com

hello everyone , first am 1 on the correct channel?? I have several S100 boards , found 25 years ago, kept in my cellar and forgotten....fortunately they are still in good conditions , all circuits are standard ttl (only a few proms) ,and all circuits are on sockets so all is easy to repair. I cleaned and repaired the power supply (only one capacitor exploded ) , I have the correct voltages +- 19v ,+9V on the backplane , now the power supply works . I have very few documentations only a few booklets with configuration data on some of the boards , no schematic. The maker was a french company named ADD-X ,located near Toulouse south west of France . Machines ran cpm/mpm . I have boards of several configurations : *cpu boards with Z80,64k of dynamic rams and 2708 . There are configuration switches around the eprom socket to use 2708 or 2716 . I wonder how it is possible to address more than 64K (rams+eprom)with a Z80 . I need documentation about it . On Ebay I found a Z64 board that is identical , I cannot contact the seller , I tried to get informations ... he does not accept emails. Does anyone know that Z64 ? *boards with 4 rs232+1 ppi *boards with 2 rs232+1ppi+1 fdc configurable for 8 inches or 5 inches floppys. *hdc controllers with one hard disk I also have disquettes,and backplanes . I need informations on the S100/cpm systems , how are boards addressed , it is something like qbus/unibus : fixed address for each category of board,is the console at a fixed address???etc . Since that epoch I have all the classic books from R.Zaks about microprocessors and cpm , there are very few informations on the S100 bus. I built a system with a cpu and a board with RS232 and fdc,I connected the terminal to the port labeled 'con0'(console 0??) ,nothing happened on the terminal. It may be lots of thing from a dead cpu or eprom to rs232 driver . I did not test more for today. I want to build a small system with a monitor in rom to examine/modify ram , registers just to learn Z80 . What monitor can be used ? I have what is necessary to compile and burn eproms . Thanks for your help . I have lots of questions.I can send photos to identify boards . Best regards Alain Nierveze

10 years, 5 months

3
3
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Floppy recovery

by jws＠jwsss.com

I wonder how it could take them three months to figure something out. Maybe Chuck can comment. But over a year after they spent the 3 months. Hmmm. It will be interesting to hear what was recovered, though from what has been written and passed down about Roddenberry, I'm not expecting much. On a tangent, from a lecture 35 years ago by Harlan Ellison, I hope all of his papers are preserved and transcribed. He had about 15 4 drawer cabinets of work notes at that time, probably double or triple that now. I think at the time he worked manually as well. https://www.yahoo.com/tech/floppy-disks-star-trek-creator-182855583.html Thanks Jim

10 years, 5 months

26
48
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A long note about the panel pictures.

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys! The big picture shows a fame with three masters on it. Oh yes you might say they put the panel in and print in three passes. Er no. having three different colour inks sloshing around in a frame at the same time might cause a few problems. From bottom up we have Terracotta, then amber and finally white. First they line up the blank panel with the Terracotta master and screen all the blanks with that colour. They go into a special rack to dry. Now they have to get rid if every trace of Terracotta ink without messing the master up. They like to leave 12 - 24 hours between passes. (Overnight if they can) . They repeat the process for Amber . Finally we come to the White layer. Try putting a 1mm white line between two different colours , always keeping the two colours on the correct sides of the line with no gaps. OK thats what they did with the first batch. Generally they were very well received and looked good. I asked for feed back and one list member said the real ones appear to be matt black on the front. I got an old panel shipped over because I thought it was just age and dirt. Well it wasn't matt black nor was it dirty. They had put a translucent layer on the front that helped to deffuse the light from the lamps and had this strange optical effect of making the front look matt black. Going back to my DEC days I think the the general view was they were matt black on both front and back to stop unwanted reflections due to the point light sources from filament lamps. So I asked if we could get some suitable ink. and try it out. Well the answer came back that whilst it was fine for deffusing the light over the holes on the back , they were not happy with the results on the front. A thin layer of real matt black on the front was much nearer the sample they said. So I added a thin matt black layer on the front for the current batch. You can't tell the difference. I think I know what may have happend. If you put a layer of matt black on the front you need an extra screen with holes that line up with those on the back. A translucent layer just goes right across. I believe it was intended to be black on both back and front but somebody did a bit of cost engineering. Well two can play that game and I have come up with an answer. From my normal supplier I have been able to source our standard 3mm perspex but with one side having a silk finish. It minics the effect of the old plastic with the diffusing ink perfectly! The front looks matt black. It also makes the ink adhere better Saves putting a front matt black layer on future batches and you cant tell. Rod

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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Front panels Video clip

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys I have a short video of part run boards awaiting their turn for the next layer. (probably a bit boring). One of the girls is in the picture (not boring) If you want I can attach it to an email. Its a .mov file. Email me off list for a copy. Rod

10 years, 5 months

2
2
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Correction - Front Panel Update

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Ooops! For boards read panels Rod

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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Open VMS System Mgt Guide Scripts Avail.

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

I've uploaded the contents of the disk that accompanis the book "OpenVMS System Management Guide" by Lawrence Baldwin here: http://www.vintagecomputer.net/digital/OpenVMS/ Maybe your copy is missing the disk. The disk contains scripts for version 5-->6 transition. Does anyone know of any MULTINET script libraries? -- Bill

10 years, 5 months

2
1
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Free HP 3000 Equipment for removal (Denver Craigslist)

by ball.of.john＠gmail.com

Marc, this is a good reason for anyone to convert their old rec room into a machine room. Just make sure to paint the walls brown and fit wall-to-wall orange carpeting. ;) I was seriously tempted on this myself but even picking up ONE 7925 from Idaho was an astounding task. A whole setup in Denver? That's nuts. -John >Cool, glad someone's snagging it. I wish, but I don't know where I'd put >it. > >On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 2:34 PM, CuriousMarc <curiousmarc3 at gmail.com> wrote: > >> I'm on it... >> Marc >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Glen >> Slick >> Sent: Monday, January 04, 2016 8:38 PM >> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts >> Subject: Free HP 3000 Equipment for removal (Denver Craigslist) >> >> Someone go get this. >> >> posted: 2016-01-04 12:20pm >> >> http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/5387506164.html >> >> I have the following HP 3000 computer equipment in my basement yours FREE >> for removal >> >>--TRIMMED--

10 years, 5 months

5
6
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Conservation issue - shrink-wrapped manual

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So I have a question for people who are involved in museums, and similar roles - how intense should I be about keeping things just as they were? I have a DEC manual (actually a Products Guide) still in its original shrink-wrap, and I'm interested in hearing opinions/rationales on whether or not I should keep it like that, as opposed to (carefully) opening it to be gain access to the content. Is there any value at all, historically, to keeping the original packaging intact, or should I just go ahead and open it? Thanks! Noel

10 years, 5 months

6
5
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PDP-8 core memory for sale (_not_ from me)

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So there's this item: http://www.ebay.com/itm/262217954449 I'm not an -8 person, so maybe there's some reason nobody's biting, but if not, I thought I'd point it out. Noel

10 years, 5 months

5
4
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Front panel update

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys Just got back from the silk screeners. Panels everywhere!! Final layers (Amber and white ) going on. Customising insets for type A and B ready Front is now matt black as per requests. They are sourcing some ready made packaging and plastic cloth. Its that soft stuff you get round hifi's and TV's etc. I have some pictures I took on the wifes iPad. If I can get them off on to my PC I can send then out. I'm working on a Web server as focal point for everything panel. In addition to DEC Straight 8, 8/e (A or B), 8/f and 8/m, I also have artwork for IBM 360 and Burroughs 3500 PDP 11/40 (PDP10) thru 11/70 are under way. Regards Rod

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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Conservation issue - shrink-wrapped manual

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Ian S. King > Implicit in the "involved in museums" domain: artifacts come in, they > don't go back out except on loan. :-) What, you've never heard of 'de-acquisitioning'? (Boy, that one sure wins the George Orwell Memorial NewSpeak award...) Noel

10 years, 5 months

4
3
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Conservation issue - shrink-wrapped manual

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Evan Koblentz > 1. How rare/valuable is the item? Moderately rare, not very valuable. > 2. What else might be inside the package? Nothing - it's clear shrink-wrap around a loose-leaf manual. > 3. Will opening it cause any damage? No. > 4. Can you store it in a suitable way after opening? If I open it, I plan to store it in an original DEC three-ring binder.. :-) > From: Fred Cisin > OTOH, if you want to SELL it When it comes to me and PDP-11 stuff, 'cold dead hands'! :-) Noel

10 years, 5 months

2
1
0 0

10 forgotten wonders of 1980s homes

by trash80＠internode.on.net

May be of interest to some list members - appeared, of all places, in the property section of a local newspaper - the Commodore 64 gets a good mention but I suspect list members might remember (or reminisce) over the other 9 too or as well. http://www.domain.com.au/news/10-forgotten-wonders-of-1980s-homes-20151217-g lpoof/ ++++++++++ Kevin Parker ++++++++++

10 years, 5 months

28
68
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VCF East -- Brian Kernighan video

by cctalk＠snarc.net

You know you wanna watch. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUWt_StXKsY

10 years, 5 months

2
1
0 0

Wanted: Specific Mallory cap...

by sales＠elecplus.com

http://5970.iso-group.com/Public/Search_Results.aspx?ss=10X2000 There are in stock here, according to their site. -----Original Message----- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Bill Sudbrink Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2016 11:52 AM To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' Subject: Wanted: Specific Mallory cap... Hi all, I am in the process of restoring/recreating a linear PS as part of a project and I would like to use the original parts if possible. I'm looking for six Mallory axial electrolytic capacitors. The physical dimensions are 11mm in diameter by 44mm in length. They have a clear plastic wrap, so the aluminum silver color shows through. The printing on them goes around the circumference (not end to end) and reads: +-M-+ 2000 MF 10 V 20-48923 Electrically, they are (were) 2000uf, 10 volt. My bet is that these are mil-spec versions of Mallory's TT10X2000 capacitor. They physically match some Mallory TT15X1000 caps that I have in my parts box. I've been "beating the bushes" for a while now with no luck on the "20-48923" part number. I've also contacted all of the web site owners that claim to have TT10X2000s. They have all come back with "well, we don't actually seem to have that part after all". If anyone has either of the above, I'll pay a good price for them. They don't have to be in operational condition electronically, I'll "restuff" them if necessary. Thanks, Bill Sudbrink --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

10 years, 5 months

2
1
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Wanted: Specific Mallory cap...

by wulfman＠wulfman.com

supply a picture if you can On 1/6/2016 10:52 AM, Bill Sudbrink wrote: > Hi all, > > I am in the process of restoring/recreating a linear > PS as part of a project and I would like to use the > original parts if possible. I'm looking for six > Mallory axial electrolytic capacitors. The physical > dimensions are 11mm in diameter by 44mm in length. > They have a clear plastic wrap, so the aluminum > silver color shows through. The printing on them > goes around the circumference (not end to end) and > reads: > > +-M-+ > 2000 MF 10 V > 20-48923 > > Electrically, they are (were) 2000uf, 10 volt. My > bet is that these are mil-spec versions of Mallory's > TT10X2000 capacitor. They physically match some > Mallory TT15X1000 caps that I have in my parts box. > I've been "beating the bushes" for a while now with > no luck on the "20-48923" part number. I've also > contacted all of the web site owners that claim to > have TT10X2000s. They have all come back with "well, > we don't actually seem to have that part after all". > > If anyone has either of the above, I'll pay a good > price for them. They don't have to be in operational > condition electronically, I'll "restuff" them if > necessary. > > Thanks, > Bill Sudbrink > > > -- The contents of this e-mail and any attachments are intended solely for the use of the named addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information. Any unauthorized use, copying, disclosure, or distribution of the contents of this e-mail is strictly prohibited by the sender and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and delete this e-mail.

10 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Free HP 3000 Equipment for removal (Denver Craigslist)

by glen.slick＠gmail.com

Someone go get this. posted: 2016-01-04 12:20pm http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/5387506164.html I have the following HP 3000 computer equipment in my basement yours FREE for removal QTY Description ----- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 HP 3000 series 30 Computers 4 HP 7925 disk drives 1 HP 2608A line printer 1 HP 7970E tape drive 2 HP 3000 Console Terminals 3 HP 2645A terminals 2 HP 2631A terminal printers The picture shown is of 3 disk drives and the Tape drive when new (1980). This equipment has been mostly idle for 20+ years. The first 4 line items of equipment above are relatively large and would require at least 2 men to remove each item from my basement.

10 years, 5 months

6
5
0 0

Wanted: Specific Mallory cap...

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

Hi all, I am in the process of restoring/recreating a linear PS as part of a project and I would like to use the original parts if possible. I'm looking for six Mallory axial electrolytic capacitors. The physical dimensions are 11mm in diameter by 44mm in length. They have a clear plastic wrap, so the aluminum silver color shows through. The printing on them goes around the circumference (not end to end) and reads: +-M-+ 2000 MF 10 V 20-48923 Electrically, they are (were) 2000uf, 10 volt. My bet is that these are mil-spec versions of Mallory's TT10X2000 capacitor. They physically match some Mallory TT15X1000 caps that I have in my parts box. I've been "beating the bushes" for a while now with no luck on the "20-48923" part number. I've also contacted all of the web site owners that claim to have TT10X2000s. They have all come back with "well, we don't actually seem to have that part after all". If anyone has either of the above, I'll pay a good price for them. They don't have to be in operational condition electronically, I'll "restuff" them if necessary. Thanks, Bill Sudbrink

10 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Floppy recovery

by cctalk＠fahimi.net

Anyone know anything about the custom computer and the custom OS? Nor implying anything but Chuck do u have any insights? ;) -------- Original message -------- From: jwsmobile <jws at jwsss.com> Date: 1/5/2016 12:27 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Floppy recovery I wonder how it could take them three months to figure something out.? Maybe Chuck can comment. But over a year after they spent the 3 months.? Hmmm.? It will be interesting to hear what was recovered, though from what has been written and passed down about Roddenberry, I'm not expecting much. On a tangent, from a lecture 35 years ago by Harlan Ellison, I hope all of his papers are preserved and transcribed.? He had about 15 4 drawer cabinets of work notes at that time, probably double or triple that now.? I think at the time he worked manually as well. https://www.yahoo.com/tech/floppy-disks-star-trek-creator-182855583.html Thanks Jim

10 years, 5 months

3
2
0 0

Gene Roddenberry's floppy disks from the 1980s read

by dzubint＠vcn.bc.ca

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/01/files-on-nearly-200-f…

10 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

IBM 3420 x2 + 3803 for sale

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

I have two IBM 3420 tape drives and a 3803 controller for sale. Asking price is $3,000 for the entire set but is negotiable. Inquire directly if interested. http://vintagetech.com/sales/Big%20Iron/IBM%203420.JPG http://vintagetech.com/sales/Big%20Iron/IBM%203803.JPG Happy new year! -- Sellam Abraham VintageTech ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintagetech.com Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. The truth is always simple. * * * NOTICE * * * Due to the insecure nature of the medium over which this message has been transmitted, no statement made in this writing may be considered reliable for any purpose either express or implied. The contents of this message are appropriate for entertainment and/or informational purposes only. The right of the people to be secure in their papers against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.

10 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Unibus/Q-bus board layout (in CAD format(s))

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

I was wondering: Are there public CAD files (no, not the medieval detective) for the Unibus/Q-bus fingers / board layout?

10 years, 5 months

4
3
0 0

The Old and New

by c.murray.mccullough＠gmail.com

There seems to be in this world a hungering for what?s new: witness the gazillion smart phones sold; untold number of iPads(tablets) and their ilk; and plug-n-play computers. What seems to be forgotten is what came before; what interests us ? vintage/classic computers. Whether in the grand scheme of things it really matters whether we call it classic computing, this website?s name protected by copyright(internet ?laws?), retro-computing; vintage computing; golden-age computing or just plain old-computing era, nevertheless helps us to immeasurably enjoy our hobby. And yet there is a hunger, maybe less so for old computers as historical oddities don?t seem to attract a large following, for what came before. The new year hopefully expands our community: wishing all classic computer enthusiasts a wonderful New Year?s and all your wishes come true in 2016. Happy computing, Murray :)

10 years, 5 months

3
2
0 0

Front Panel Update

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys! I have just sent off an email to the silk screeners and will talk to them later. Like most of the UK they have been shut down from 18th December until to-day. When they shutdown they had put the black layer on the back of all of the panels and they were in the drier Moving to the front of the panel. In the first batch I shipped. The front had the normal shiny perspex finish. Somebody noticed the real old panels had a sort of matt black finish on the front. Actually it was a translucent sort of gray layer to diffuse the lamps and had the side effect of making the front surface look as if it was matt black. It isn't but it sure looks like it. Its some kind of transmissive optical effect. OK so they go and get an ink to do the above. While they had the panels in the drier they did a test piece. Black on the back and translucent clear diffuser on the front. For some reason they were not happy with the result. At that point Christmas intervenes. To-day, what I have requested is not to mess around with the special ink if they dont like the results. They should just put a real but thin layer of matt black on the front. The result should be the same. More news as it comes in Rod

10 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Experiences with a composite video mod for a Sinclair ZX81

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Going through and testing the collection over this Xmas period also prods me into doing mods I've procrastinated about. A very simple mod but here is a write up for anyone who is interested... http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2016-01-03-composite-video-for-zx8… Terry (Tez)

10 years, 5 months

7
10
0 0

Panda Display USB support in klh10 working

by dave＠661.org

I've managed to edit klh10 to talk to my new USB Panda Display, but I'm quite sure it's not displaying things correctly. What can I run to get it to display a recognizable pattern? I'm thinking of whatever is causing the parallel display at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_LcQ5apODg to do what it's doing. To make a quick and dirty USB Panda Display, wire up an atmega328 according to the schematics at To start playing with this, first clone https://github.com/DavidGriffith/panda-display. You don't need Kicad at this point. Just open up panda-sch.pdf and wire up an atmega328 (maybe at atmega8 will do) with a 20MHz crystal. Other crystals can be used if you alter the Makefile accordingly. Use a max7219 matrix LED module. It's a board with an 8x8 matrix of LEDs and a max7219. You'll also need a AVR ISP breakout board and a USB-B breakout board. A Unix environment is assumed here. Set your AVR programmer (edit makefile to match yours) such that it _DOES_NOT_ supply power to the circuit. Connect the programmer to the board and to your computer. Then connect a USB cable from your computer to the circuit. Go into the firmware directory, type "make hex" to build the firmware. Then "make program" to program the AVR. The circuit should reset itself and then display an X. Now type "make ptest" to build a test program with which you can send bytes to the Panda Display and see them immediately. Use it like this "./ptest 0x23, 0xff, 0x9a" and so on. Once you're happy with that, move on to klh10. Get my patched version at https://github.com/DavidGriffith/klh10 and build it like usual. I used the base-kl target and the klt20.ini config file from Mark Crispin's Panda distribution. Start the emulator and before you type "GO", type "lights on". You should be told that the Panda Display was initialized. Type "GO" and get things going. The LED matrix will then start blinking. I don't know how it's supposed to look at this point. The RUN light appears to be at the bottom left of the matrix given that it blinks at 1 Hz. Here's a udev rule that will work for the Panda Display: SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="05df", ATTRS{idVendor}=="16c0", MODE="0770", ATTRS{product}=="Panda Display", GROUP="plugdev" Please play around with this and let me know what you think. Again, please tell me how I can get a predictable pattern going so I can get the LEDs lit correctly. -- David Griffith dave at 661.org A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

10 years, 5 months

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HP 16700A/16702A logic analyzer help request - /etc/rc.config.d/netconf file wanted

by spacewar＠gmail.com

I previously mentioned that the ethernet interface on my HP 16702A is not working. After a lot of messing around, I discovered that the 10baseT interface actually works fine if I log in as root (after jailbreaking it), and manually configure the interface. The problem seems to be with the /etc/rc.config.d/netconf file, which was trying to configure the lan1 interface, which doesn't exist. It should configure lan0. I edited the file to use lan0, and now when I boot the analyzer, it still reports errors, and still won't let me do the GUI lan configuration, but the interface actually works. Could someone with a 16700A or 16702A please make available a copy of their /etc/rc.config.d/netconf file for comparison? Thanks! Eric

10 years, 5 months

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PDP-12 Restoration at the RICM

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

As a final diagnostic on the PDP-12 we tried to run FOCAL-69, but it started executing instructions in non existent memory. FOCAL initializes lots of peripherals and then tries different instructions to determine what processor it is running on. It executed what it thought was a TC01 DECtape IOT, but DEC had recycled the 6762 instruction for the KF12 Automatic Priority Interrupt controller. This caused the KF12 to execute a hardware PUSH instruction to save the processor state and then jump into memory field 2. Since we only have 8k of core it executed 7777 instructions and hung. Replacing the 6762 instruction at 4376 with a 7000 NOP let FOCAL initialize and run OK. -- Michael Thompson

10 years, 5 months

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Remember the old "Choose your own adventure books" By D & D! ! !

by tulsamike3434＠gmail.com

Has any of you took one of them old choose your own adventurer books and coded it into a text RPG in basic? if so how well did it work as soon as I get all my Commodore 64 setup on CHRISTmas day that is the first thing that I am going to start working on. The one I am doing is *" THE DRAGON OF DOOM "* I have been brushing up on my coding skills with old books like BASIC COMPUTER GAMES AND SUCH... So wirh me luck and if any of you have done this brfotr please let me know how it ernt? The only Major things I have forgotten are... 1. Clear the screen for the next page! 2, doing the page jumps like in the book it will say if your want top enter turn to page 356 ot if you want to keep walking turn to page 17 that is the code I have forgoten But I am sure you all will be able to help me make this game the best it can be. I wish I fould add hiypointd and damage points find gold but I guess when I get to that Ill ask only after I dearch th net for awncers. thanks yall GOD BLESS AND MERRY CHRISTmas! '

10 years, 5 months

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New Commodore 64 is Finally Here--For Real! PC MAG Snip

by tulsamike3434＠gmail.com

Would you buy the new Commodore 64 ? ? ? >From PC-World " The new Commodore 64 <http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_C64.aspx> is, like the old 64, an entire system inside a (rather thick) keyboard. The old Commodore 64 <http://www.pcworld.com/article/195094/ccs64_turns_your_pc_into_a_commodore_…> originally cost $595 and featured an MOS Technology 6510 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_6510> microprocessor, an impressive 64KB of RAM, and VIC-II <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_VIC-II> graphics that supported a screen resolution of 320 by 200 pixels. The new system, which also starts at $595, is a little more modern: it's got a Dual Core 525 Atom processor, an Nvidia Ion2 graphics chipset, 2GB of RAM (upgradeable to 4GB), a 160GB hard drive, and built-in Wi-Fi. On the left side of the keyboard there's a slot or tray-load DVD (upgradeable to Blu-ray), and on the right side there's a multi-format card reader, along with a USB 2.0 port. The rear features four additional USB 2.0 ports; mouse and keyboard PS/2 ports; DVI, VGA, and HDMI ports; Ethernet; and support for 6-channel HD audio. It runs Linux, but you can install Windows if you like. Pretty cool for a computer that looks like it's from the 80's. Of course, if you just want the look--and you want to throw your own stuff inside--you can also order the "Barebones" package on the new Commodore 64 Website. The Barebones package costs $250 and gets you the case, chassis, keyboard, and multi-format card reader with USB 2.0 port. On the other hand, if you'd like to go all out, there's also an $895 "Ultimate" package that includes a Blu-ray drive and a 1TB hard drive. The new Commodore 64 begins shipping at the end of this month, but you can order yours now <http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_C64Select.aspx>--go get your BASIC <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_BASIC> on! " I myself am going to buy one just for a collector sake. The new Commodore phone seemes to be selling like hotcakes from the research I have done on it. There is also a switch in the back to boot the original C-64 I think It will be a fun computer to 0wn. What are your thoughts I will be wait a year or so because 545.00 is a bit much for me to spend on it but anyway Like I said what are your thoughts on it Ill post a youtube link below with the newC-64 review... Video Link here -------> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7Lo9Q0RiX0

10 years, 5 months

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Happy New Year

by pete＠dunnington.plus.com

A very Happy New Year to all the denizens of Classiccmp, and especially to Jay: thank you for another year of stewardship! -- Pete

10 years, 5 months

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Targeting Computers in X wing fighters.

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Went to Starwars last night. Oh boy did they get it right this time!! Look and feel of the original 1977 version. Really good new actors. In a way it was like a retelling of history but in a completly new way. The bombing runs up the trench used the same sighting system as thirty odd years ago. Added to that several scenes were filmed at the former US Airbase at Greenham Common. Its a mile from where I live and I passed within 50yards of where the filming took place on my way to the cinema. The bunkers are in a natural hollow in the ground and surrounded by triple fences with watch towers. In the film you can see the typical camoflarge netting in the back ground. - Nothing to do with the film. They were trying to hide the set from passing aircraft. They managed to keep it a secret until one day a guy was passing in his microlight and spotted the MF (or at least most of it) parked by the old cruise missile bunkers.. He was not a fan but his son was. He calls his son up on his mobile and says: You know that spaceship you got for Christmas years ago. Well there's a big one at Greenham Common. The answer is not repeatable here but he ended by saying I'm on my way to your landing strip - pick me up. It was true and it made the local paper before Lucasfilm could do anything about it. This Abrams guy really understood what people wanted. Considering how unwell Carrie Fisher is she gave a really good performance. She gets my special "The show must go on" award. Disney must be so pleased and if I know them they will keep the faith. Rod

10 years, 5 months

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Yet another batch of VCF videos

by cctalk＠snarc.net

Today we posted the videos from East 5.0. Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_e5fSxflvrxnBFCeLI_uLqQHJBmghA2g. In the past week or two, we also posted the videos from East 6.0 and 9(.1). Videos from 7.0 and 10.0 will be ready soon. East 8.0 is in the hopper, and we're trying to see if we have the footage from 3.0 and 4.0. After that, we hope to process the VCF West videos (and East 1.0/2.0, which were run by Sellam out west).

10 years, 5 months

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Castlevaina for the Commodore 64

by tulsamike3434＠gmail.com

I have a mint copy with all the passwords if you need a copy of the passwords let me know I am going to have to type them in because they are printed on DARK brown paper with black text you cant scan it I tried so let me know if any of ya need them... Also it surprisingly has pretty good graphics for the first version of Castlevaina or I think it is...

10 years, 5 months

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[SPOILERS] Re: Targeting Computers in X wing fighters.

by blstuart＠bellsouth.net

On Thu, 12/31/15, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: > One quick [non-spoiler?] question:? Is it a remake?? Or is it > another in the "series"?? (if so, earlier? later?) It's in the series, specifically Episode 7, taking place sometime after Revenge of the Jedi. BLS

10 years, 5 months

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Happy New Year

by c.murray.mccullough＠gmail.com

There seems to be in this world a hungering for what?s new: witness the gazillion smart phones sold; untold number of iPads(tablets) and their ilk; and plug-n-play computers. What seems to be forgotten is what came before; what interests us ? vintage/classic computers. Whether in the grand scheme of things it really matters whether we call it classic computing, this website?s name protected by copyright(internet ?laws?), retro-computing; vintage computing; golden-age computing or just plain old-computing era, nevertheless helps us to immeasurably enjoy our hobby. And yet there is a hunger, maybe less so for old computers as historical oddities don?t seem to attract a large following, for what came before. The new year hopefully expands our community: wishing all classic computer enthusiasts a wonderful New Year?s and all your wishes come true in 2016. Happy computing. Murray :)

10 years, 5 months

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Happy New Year

by hp-fix＠xs4all.nl

To my most favorite 'off-topic list', all of you guys have a Happy and good new year. >From the Netherlands as we say "Gelukkig Nieuwjaar". -Rik

10 years, 5 months

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The KGB, the Computer, and Me

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: Mouse <mouse at Rodents-Montreal.ORG> >> [...] industrial espionage [...] >> One wonders how much goes undetected. >> Most of those getting caught are in upper management. Us lowly >> grunts don't seem to get involved as often or maybe there are those >> among us that are just that much better at covering our tracks. > >Or, when a low-level peon is caught, it doesn't make the news, so the >world at large doesn't notice. > This is a big part of my world these days. My wildly subjective, overly general observations: 1) When a big fish is caught, it's usually an "I took a bunch of doco I shouldn't have to my next job" situation. I've discussed more nefarious high-level mole scenarios with the FBI numerous times. It happens, but it's not apparently that common. 2) When a little fish is caught, it's usually some variation on "I'll teach them". And as Mouse notes, effort is usually made not to publicize the event unless there's a regulatory driver that requires it. That said, there's a *huge* amount of little fish "espionage" that flies under the radar. Things like client lists, marketing plans and confidential designs quietly walk out the door all the time and are rarely noticed. With these sorts of things, it's fiendishly difficult to assess the impact on the victims business. 3) No one is particularly good at covering their tracks (including people who in theory know how to do it). Unfortunately, the tools to proactively spot data exfiltration are rarely implemented and even more rarely implemented well. BTW...that's more an function of how difficult the problem is rather than an indictment of the practitioners. KJ

10 years, 5 months

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paging Jack Rubin or Jason Timmons, Mike Lee, Chicago Folks

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

Jack/Jason/Mike Lee, etc. If you get a chance please contact me privately about a Chicago rescue. Thanks 1mb -- Bill

10 years, 5 months

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Ferroresonant transformers and 3278

by tmfdmike＠gmail.com

I recently blew up a 3278... it worked ok for a few hours then started blowing fuses. I haven't done any troubleshooting yet but checking the manuals on Bitsavers tells me my US 3278s have ferroresonant transformers specified as 120V 60Hz only. This can be expected to cause problems with 120V 50Hz here in NZ from my knowledge of how ferroresonant transformers work; I'll get excessive magnetic currents - overheating - all kinds of nasties. I can wind the voltage down a bit and run them at 90-100V but that doesn't help much. 1. Does anyone in a 50Hz country have any dead/spare 3278s and/or transformers for them? The IBM part number for the 50Hz 220V are 8715343 or 4119686. 2. I have other equipment where this will be an issue and not so easily solved. Does anyone have any experience in or recommendations for frequency conversion equipment? My System/3s for instance all use 60Hz ferroresonants operating off 208V 3-phase - now voltage can probably be retapped or easily converted but I still need to make a lot of 60Hz to run them... Thanks Mike http://www.corestore.org 'No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother. Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame. For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see.'

10 years, 5 months

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Old versions of 2.11BSD

by dugo＠xs4all.nl

Over at TUHS an attempt to put the history of 2.11BSD under version control (git) stranded somewhat. After some digging the patchlevels that can be found in the archives are now 195, 277, 303 and 431. The base 2.11BSD is sorely missing. The numbered updates by Steven M. Schultz are not pure context diffs. eg. an attempt to reverse them breaks where ld.c is removed in update #160 and can't be pieced back together accurately using 2.10xBSD and assorted patches. Maybe someone here who missed the thread on the TUHS mailing list has a really old copy of 2.11BSD lying around? /Jacob

10 years, 5 months

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The KGB, the Computer, and Me

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Anybody who has not seen this film (The KGB, the Computer, and Me) its worth a look. 1980's DEC systems everywhere, LSI terminals, HP kit, Tape drives in action and apart from the Mac no Windows anywhere. I think LBL must have bought one of everything. The story (true) is not bad either. I now expect to get a long list of weveseenits. Rod

10 years, 5 months

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Software for DEC MINC systems

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

Sorry - I did it again and forgot to remove the junk in the subject line! >Jerome H. Fine wrote: > >Jay Jaeger wrote: > >>> On 12/29/2015 2:47 PM, Jay Jaeger wrote: >> >>> I have had several folks express the desire for them. Over the day or >>> few days (we have a gathering coming up tomorrow, and not sure I will >>> get to it today, so it could be as late as next week), I will load them >>> up on my Google drive in a directory structure analogous to what >>> bitsavers uses, and send out the link. >>> >>> JRJ >> >> https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2v4WRwISEQRWWFFdVpCZWFTZEU&usp=sha… >> >> >> The structure is similar to bitsavers, so look in: >> >> bits/DEC/pdp11/floppyimages >> >> There are two folders, rx01 and rx02 with .img files. >> >> The image files INCLUDE TRACK 0, so depending on how you plan to use >> them, you may need to trim off the first track first. > > Any possibility you could provide the full link? I don't see much > in the way of information at that site to get me to those floppy images. > There might be other DEC and non-DEC PDP-11 images that are > of interest. > > This site also has many DEC and non-DEC files for the PDP-11 > http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/ > > I usually find that anything to do with google that is not totally > obvious > to usually be a pain. > > Just on doing a search, the usual > 1,000,000 items stop being anything > at all relevant after item 100. > > google is often good to check spelling though (LOL) - I can't spell, > so I always use the Spell checker. > > Jerome Fine

10 years, 5 months

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[SPAM key] - Re: Software for DEC MINC systems

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

>Jay Jaeger wrote: >>On 12/29/2015 2:47 PM, Jay Jaeger wrote: > > >>I have had several folks express the desire for them. Over the day or >>few days (we have a gathering coming up tomorrow, and not sure I will >>get to it today, so it could be as late as next week), I will load them >>up on my Google drive in a directory structure analogous to what >>bitsavers uses, and send out the link. >> >>JRJ >> >https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2v4WRwISEQRWWFFdVpCZWFTZEU&usp=sha… > >The structure is similar to bitsavers, so look in: > >bits/DEC/pdp11/floppyimages > >There are two folders, rx01 and rx02 with .img files. > >The image files INCLUDE TRACK 0, so depending on how you plan to use >them, you may need to trim off the first track first. > Any possibility you could provide the full link? I don't see much in the way of information at that site to get me to those floppy images. There might be other DEC and non-DEC PDP-11 images that are of interest. This site also has many DEC and non-DEC files for the PDP-11 http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/ I usually find that anything to do with google that is not totally obvious to usually be a pain. Just on doing a search, the usual > 1,000,000 items stop being anything at all relevant after item 100. google is often good to check spelling though (LOL) - I can't spell, so I always use the Spell checker. Jerome Fine

10 years, 5 months

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cctech Digest, Vol 18, Issue 30

by mark＠matlockfamily.com

On Dec 30, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2015 14:47:17 -0600 > From: Jay Jaeger <cube1 at charter.net> > To: cctech at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems > Message-ID: <5682F155.3050205 at charter.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > >>> >>> On 12/27/2015 10:15 PM, Mark Matlock wrote: >>>> >>>> The software I am looking for are the MINC software packages FEP (Fortran Enhancement Package) V2.1 and FRP (Fortran Real_time Package) V1.0. Also SSP V1.3 (Scientific Subroutines Package) and LSP V1.2 (Laboratory Subroutines Package) would be great to find as well. These all run under RT-11 and I understand that there was also a version (V1.1) of FEP and V1.0 of FRP that ran under RSX11M which would be fantastic to find as I am more interested in RSX11M. This is based on documents in the MINC folder in the bitsavers online archives. >>>> >>>> Mark >>>> >>> >>> I have some MINC hardware (also a MINC/23 I think) and software, but it >>> does not look like I have what you are looking for. >>> >>> What I do have images of (except for the one marked "(Bad)" that seem >>> likely MINC related: >>> >>> RX01: >>> >>> CONTENTS COMMENT >>> LAB Applications-11 Library V3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YB, NSUM=41906 >>> LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 1 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA1, NSUM=56190 >>> LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 2 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA2, NSUM=28900 >>> LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 3 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA3, NSUM=65055 >>> >>> CONTENTS COMMENT >>> PLOT, Ver June '80 DECUS 11-381 RT-11 Media(KA) (Bad) >>> MINC BASIC/FORTRAN IV VIR TERM DECUS 11-417 RT-11, NSUM=22281 >>> PLOTTING PKG For RT-11 FORTRAN DECUS 11-431 RT-11, NSUM=12228 >>> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 1 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=15424 >>> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 2 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=1369 >>> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 3 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=2841 >>> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 4 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=21353 >>> FEP2: FINITE ELEMENT PROG 3DIM 1 of 2 KB DECUS 11-461 RT-11, NSUM=14187 >>> FEP2: FINITE ELEMENT PROG 3DIM 2 of 2 KB DECUS 11-461 RT-11, NSUM=26552 >>> >>> >>> RX02: >>> >>> CONTENTS COMMENT >>> MINC MA DEMO/23 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-J837B-BC, NSUM=04649 >>> MINC MA DEMO/03 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-H107D-BC, NSUM=58263 >>> MINC MA SYS/23 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-J836B-BC, NSUM=17510 >>> MINC MA SYS/03 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-H106D-BC, NSUM=61253 >> >> > > I have had several folks express the desire for them. Over the day or > few days (we have a gathering coming up tomorrow, and not sure I will > get to it today, so it could be as late as next week), I will load them > up on my Google drive in a directory structure analogous to what > bitsavers uses, and send out the link. > > JRJ Jay, Thank you so much for putting the RX01 and RX02 images on your Google drive. This afternoon I was able to download them all and in RT11/Simh copy all the files to a large DU: type drive to both verify that the disk images downloaded correctly and to put everything in one convenient volume to load on a microSD card for the SCSI2SD transfer to a real PDP-11. I didn't notice any file names duplicating as I combined the contents of the floppies and if that the case there were 168 files on the RX01s and 64 files on the RX02s with a combined size of 3976 blocks. Browsing through the files I saw lots of great example code for a wide range of scientific routines!! Thanks again for taking the time to put the files out there. Thanks again!! Mark

10 years, 5 months

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Available: various PSION organizers, parts, and documentation from the mid-80s

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

I have boxes full of like-new PSION II organizers that I recently received from a US distributed. These aren't rare or valuable, but they are new in the box and seemingly never used. There are different models, with both 2 and 4 line displays, and different amounts of memory. I also have memory modules, cables, and development documentation. There's also a PSION module duplicactor. If any of this interests anyone, let me know. Also: 50 pounds of old PC parallel, serial, video cables, etc. You can see pictures here: http://www.oldcomputers.net/temp/

10 years, 5 months

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120V, 50HZ

by useddec＠gmail.com

If anyone is interested, I know where there are 3 or 4 unused PDP-8As that are 120/50. I ask about the configuration and am waiting for him to get back to me, but they seem to be 12 slot core boxes. Amazing the new 50 or so year stuff still out there. Paul

10 years, 5 months

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10 forgotten wonders of 1980s homes

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Interesting just brought the old magnavox ghetto blaster I had in the computer room at computer exchange inc... put 4 cells and a jumper to start it in half voltage for a while.... it lives! went to all 8 batteries... it peels plaster off the walls! but wait i go to the oldies station and .. . Crowded House- Don't Dream Its Over Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield 2 of the songs I would crank LOUD! Hey had slick raised tiles... things sounded real loud in there! But.... damn these are .... oldies now I remember when that oldies station would just mainly play 60's stuff.... Here is someone else's write up on this... for tech details.. <http://www.vintagevolts.com/the-magnavox-d8443-boombox/> this thing had set in relatives storage shed for probably 15 years or maybe 22 ..... it had need 23 years since I saw it last....and storage sheds are damn hot here in az.. it looks good... it plays good! it plays LOUD good to have it back! In a message dated 12/29/2015 12:23:38 P.M. US Mountain Standard Tim, js at cimmeri.com writes: On 12/29/2015 2:08 PM, Jules Richardson wrote: > I've wondered occasionally what > happened to ghetto blasters - despite > finding other audio equipment of the > time every once in a while, I don't > think I've seen one anywhere in over > 25 years. Were they exceptionally > fragile or something, and so they all > got tossed long ago instead of finding > their way into attics and garages like > everything else? > > cheers > Jules I still have mine, circa 1979. Amazingly still works -- with no caps replacement yet -- except for tape deck -- rubber bands have dried up. - J.

10 years, 5 months

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Software for DEC MINC systems

by mark＠matlockfamily.com

On Dec 29, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2015 17:51:45 -0600 > From: Jay Jaeger <cube1 at charter.net> > To: cctech at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems > Message-ID: <5681CB11.4090101 at charter.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > > On 12/27/2015 10:15 PM, Mark Matlock wrote: >> >> The software I am looking for are the MINC software packages FEP (Fortran Enhancement Package) V2.1 and FRP (Fortran Real_time Package) V1.0. Also SSP V1.3 (Scientific Subroutines Package) and LSP V1.2 (Laboratory Subroutines Package) would be great to find as well. These all run under RT-11 and I understand that there was also a version (V1.1) of FEP and V1.0 of FRP that ran under RSX11M which would be fantastic to find as I am more interested in RSX11M. This is based on documents in the MINC folder in the bitsavers online archives. >> >> Mark >> > > I have some MINC hardware (also a MINC/23 I think) and software, but it > does not look like I have what you are looking for. > > What I do have images of (except for the one marked "(Bad)" that seem > likely MINC related: > > RX01: > > CONTENTS COMMENT > LAB Applications-11 Library V3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YB, NSUM=41906 > LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 1 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA1, NSUM=56190 > LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 2 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA2, NSUM=28900 > LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 3 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA3, NSUM=65055 > > CONTENTS COMMENT > PLOT, Ver June '80 DECUS 11-381 RT-11 Media(KA) (Bad) > MINC BASIC/FORTRAN IV VIR TERM DECUS 11-417 RT-11, NSUM=22281 > PLOTTING PKG For RT-11 FORTRAN DECUS 11-431 RT-11, NSUM=12228 > LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 1 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=15424 > LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 2 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=1369 > LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 3 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=2841 > LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 4 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=21353 > FEP2: FINITE ELEMENT PROG 3DIM 1 of 2 KB DECUS 11-461 RT-11, NSUM=14187 > FEP2: FINITE ELEMENT PROG 3DIM 2 of 2 KB DECUS 11-461 RT-11, NSUM=26552 > > > RX02: > > CONTENTS COMMENT > MINC MA DEMO/23 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-J837B-BC, NSUM=04649 > MINC MA DEMO/03 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-H107D-BC, NSUM=58263 > MINC MA SYS/23 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-J836B-BC, NSUM=17510 > MINC MA SYS/03 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-H106D-BC, NSUM=61253 Jay, Wow! It would be great to get copies of those DEC and DECUS floppies! Almost all DECUS software include the sources and a good example of source code is worth many pages of references manuals. Please contact me directly and we can discuss how to transfer them. Several of those titles sound very interesting! The MINC systems are great hardware platforms, but I was very afraid that much of the software had been lost. This is very encouraging! Thanks! Mark On Dec 29, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > From: jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Cc: jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu > Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems > Message-ID: <20151228152030.26E4518C0B2 at mercury.lcs.mit.edu> > >> From: Mark Matlock > >> either 11/23 or 11/73 CPUs (limited to 256KB by the MINC Q18 bus) > > Have you thought about upgrading the backplane/bus to 22 bits (shouldn't be > too hard) - or do you want to keep it original? > > Noel Noel, I actually have two MINC boxes, one labelled as a MINC-23 and one labelled as MINC-11. As far as I can tell from the engineering drawings there is no difference in the back plane. I am hoping to wire the MINC-23 to Q22 in the future to be able to run RSX11M+ on it with the 11/73 and a decent amount of memory. As far as I can tell there MINC cards would not have a problem with the Q22 bus and the modification to the BDV11 is pretty easy. The MINC-11 I plan to keep as a RT-11 system but with the 11/23 CPU and 256 KB RAM. Mark On Dec 29, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2015 11:27:17 -0800 > From: "Ian S. King" <isking at uw.edu> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems > > I started such a project a while back, and grad school intervened. :-) > But with all this interest, I'll see if I can't disinter my MINC and try it > again. I'm pretty sure I have these packages and a lot more, and I really > need to get them imaged of RX02s before the oxide starts falling off. :-) > > I have a MINC-11, but I put an 11/23 processor in it - 18-bit addressing, > though, and I DO want to keep it stock so I'm not going to modify the > backplane for 22-bit addressing, as much as I'd like that extra working > store space! Ian, As we discussed offline, I'll be very interested to see the titles of the RX02s that you have "in the basement". It would be great to get as many of these DEC and DECUS MINC related software packages together in one collection so it doesn't get lost forever. Thanks and Best regards, Mark On Dec 28, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Message: 18 > Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2015 20:35:54 -0800 > From: Glen Slick <glen.slick at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems > > I have an RX02 floppy labeled: > BA-L796C-BC > RT-11/FEP V2.2 INSTL BIN RX2 > (C) 1983 > > I don't know if that would help. I'll have to look and see if I have > already created an image of this disk. If not it might take some time > before I get setup again to create RX02 disk images. > > -Glen Glen, I would very much be interested in a copy of that RX02! That is one subversion higher (V2.2 vs V2.1) than the documentation I found so its probably one of the last releases. Please email me privately if you find the image. Thanks a bunch!! Mark

10 years, 5 months

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Trivial to adapt C64 1902 monitor output to s-video?

by jacob.ritorto＠gmail.com

On Sun, Dec 27, 2015 at 12:10 PM, tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote: > [...] I am (mainly) a Commodore enthusiast). > This discussion bumped my memory a little and I was wanting to do it. Has anyone tried this or does anyone have knowledge of why it should or shouldn't work? -thx jake

10 years, 5 months

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M9301-YB Bootstrap/Terminator ROM dumps / listings?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Johnny Billquist bqt at update.uu.se > The per-device code are in separate PROMs that are used in both the > 9301 and 9312. Those are the ones with the device code as constants in > the beginning of memory space for the PROM, by the way. As I mentioned, the M9301-YA, at least, does not have this code. (See the listing.) Also, again on the M9301-YA, the various bootstraps, diagnostics, and console, are scattered through both banks (ditto), so one can't just replace a PROM or two to chance the supported devices; one would have to replace the entire set of 4 PROMs. > I hope you also are aware that both the M9301 and the M9312 have > different boot roms for some machines. I know that the 11/70 use > different roms with other tests than other PDP-11s, and I seem to > remember that one or two others do as well. (The 11/60 keeps popping up > in my brain...) I have yet to investigate the M9312's in depth, but I did know there are quite a few different versions of the M9301 (which amount to different ROMs: I know there are two different etch revisions of the card itself, but I think they are programming-wise identical). I don't know of any good list of the variants, but here are the versions I know of (device codes abbreviated to save typing): M9301-YA /04 and /34 OEM version; has basic diagnostics, console emulator, boots from various devices (RK, RP, TC, TM, DL, PC, TA, RX), supports auto-boot on power on, and also power-fail restart M9301-YB /04 and /34 end user version; has basic diagnostics, console emulator, boots from various devices (RK, RP, TC, TM, TA, RX, DL, PC, RJS, RJP, TJU), also power-fail restart M9301-YC /70 version; contains basic CPU, cache and memory diagnostics, boots from various devices (TM, TC, RK, RP, RK06, RJS, RJP, TJU, RX) M9301-YD All models; contains code to allow a terminal attached to the machine to be a terminal on some other line; also has boot code for RX and DDCMP M9301-YE All models; has basic diagnostics, console emulator; boots from low speed paper tape or DECnet; supports auto-boot on power on, and also power-fail restart M9301-YF All models (auto-start not available on /45, /50); has basic diagnostics, console emulator, boots from various devices (RK, RK06, RP, TC, TM, TA, RX, DL, PC, RJS, RJP, TJU) supports auto-boot on power on, and also power-fail restart M9301-YH /60 and /70 version; contains basic CPU, cache and memory diagnostics, boots from various devices (TM, TC, RK, RP, RK06, RJS, RJP, TJU, RX, PC) M9301-YH All models; has basic diagnostics, console emulator; boots from DECnet, and various devices (RX, TU, DL, DMC), also power-fail restart The -YA is the only one I have examined in detail. Noel

10 years, 5 months

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Old VCF East/West videos are going online

by barythrin＠gmail.com

Woohoo! Thanks to everyone involved in the efforts!

10 years, 5 months

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Reinstalling SunOS 4.1.4 without CD drive

by echristopherson＠gmail.com

A very generous list member just gave me a SPARCStation 20 with SunOS 4.1.4 on it. I thought the first thing I would do would be to image its hard drive in my Linux PC, in case I ever wanted to start fresh. I assume that if I make a bitwise copy of it, I can later write those same bits out. But now I'm wondering what would happen if the disk developed marked bad sectors; would that make an exact image impossible to write onto it? I have a disc image of that release, but unfortunately no SCSI CD-ROM. It occurs to me that I could perhaps make a SunOS filesystem on Linux and untar things from either the install CD or the image of the original HD into it, but I don't know if that would produce something actually bootable. I'm hoping there would be some way within Linux to capture the actual format of the filesystem to use as a skeleton. Does anyone know if this is possible (viz. creating a valid, bootable filesystem and untarring files into it)? Or should I just invest in a CD-ROM drive? -- Eric Christopherson

10 years, 5 months

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The KGB, the Computer, and Me

by dugo＠xs4all.nl

On December 29 08:35 Brent Hilpert wrote: > In 1985 I was setting up our new email system at CERN, and the email > system had a security flaw that allowed the users' mail access > passwords to be seen. > This in of itself wasn't too big deal as there was little a hacker > could do with it (only get access to mail pickup, and you'd need a > system that talked X.400, which weren't prevalent). > What made it a big security problem, of course, was that users tended > to use their login password for their mail password, so once the > hackers uncovered the mail password they ipso-facto often got a login > password. > The hacking was noticed and I was told they were networking in from > Germany. > > Given the commonalities: time proximity (85-86), hacker source > (Germany) and hacking targets (HEP/nuclear/research community), I > wonder now if it was the same group of hackers. Check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR9HVZ8qHHo Fast forward to 5:26 for a '87 sitelist mentioning CERN.

10 years, 5 months

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New Commodore 64 is Finally Here--For Real! PC MAG Snip

by barythrin＠gmail.com

They sold some units of the c64x. I think there are still some on our local austin craigslist but like most folks said hardware isn't really interesting enough to me to justify the cost. ? I cant remember where or who also produced a small (eepc? Or mini asus laptop running linux but badges with the commodore logo.? The latest relicense grab I'm aware of is only available in Europe but is a phone calling itself the commodore pet?http://commodoresmart.com/ i imagine they're probably trying to work out the legal purchase from commodore usa to use the logo if they care for a US release.?

10 years, 5 months

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disassembling Western Digital microcode (PDP-11, WD16, Pascal Microengine)

by spacewar＠gmail.com

The first cut at a microcode disassembler for the CP16xx/WD21xx chipsets, written in Python 3, is now on github: https://github.com/brouhaha/cp16dis The disassembler uses hexadecimal, in C notation, rather than octal as used by DEC. Branch targets are labeled as L with the three-digit hex address. The disassembler doesn't know about branch targets only reached from the control chip translation PLA. The disassembler probably needs a lot of work to be truly usable. It does not even attempt to produce code that could be assembled by DEC's "MICRO" microassembler that is in the KUV11 writable control store support software, or any other assembler or microassembler. (I don't have the KUV11 support software, but would *really* like to obtain a copy!) The register names decoded are specific to the LSI-11 microcode. I don't yet know what the Pascal Microengine registers are used for, so I don't have suitable names for them. Here's an excerpt from the LSI-11 microcode at address 0x018 where you can see one of the techniques for a computed jump, with entry occuring at 0x20: L018: jmp L101 ;018: 000101 jmp L161 ;019: 000161 jmp L192 ;01a: 000192 jmp L0f5 ;01b: 0000f5 jmp L0a5 ;01c: 0000a5 jmp L19e ;01d: 00019e jmp L192 ;01e: 000192 jmp L192 ;01f: 000192 mi RIRL,RIRH ;020: 00ec89 jmp L018 ;021: 000018 This is used by an implicit jump caused by the translation array in the control chip to location 0x20. The mi instruction causes the instruction register (RIRH) to be OR'd into both bytes of the next microinstruction, which is a jump to L018. Presumably before jumping to the mi, all of the bits of the instruction register have been masked off, except for the least significant three. It's also possible that it's been shifted before masking. Also possible, not all of the bits might be masked off, and there might be more of the jump table elsewhere, depending on those bits. Note that if the most significant five bits are not masked off, this could even change the jump instruction at 0x21 to a different kind of instruction. Eric

10 years, 5 months

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Software for DEC MINC systems

by mark＠matlockfamily.com

I have a MINC-23 that I am in the process of restoring. On the hardware side, I modified the BDV11 ROMs with some help from Malcolm Macleod on the boot eprom images so that I could boot a DU device directly from a 11/23 (not plus). It boots an Emulex UC07 and a SCSI2SD so I can load various images on to the microSD card. I found a microSD to normal SD adapter which I plan to mount through one of the MINC blank front panels (with a blinking drive activity LED of course), so that changing disks is convenient. Currently, the SCSI2SD is formatted as four RD54 drives which are a convenient size to load individual images with the dd command on Linux or Mac OSX. Currently, I can boot both RT-11 or RSX11M with either 11/23 or 11/73 CPUs (limited to 256KB by the MINC Q18 bus). The software I am looking for are the MINC software packages FEP (Fortran Enhancement Package) V2.1 and FRP (Fortran Real_time Package) V1.0. Also SSP V1.3 (Scientific Subroutines Package) and LSP V1.2 (Laboratory Subroutines Package) would be great to find as well. These all run under RT-11 and I understand that there was also a version (V1.1) of FEP and V1.0 of FRP that ran under RSX11M which would be fantastic to find as I am more interested in RSX11M. This is based on documents in the MINC folder in the bitsavers online archives. Please contact me if you have any of these packages or would just like to compare notes on the MINC hardware. I am still gathering diagnostics and documentation to check out the analog to digital, programable clock, digital to analog, and digital I/O cards. Someone mentioned earlier the "Minicomputer in the Laboratory" book by James Cooper and I have found it to be very helpful as well. Thanks and Happy New Year! Mark

10 years, 5 months

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Mysterious "Alcatel 7100" machine

by me＠xenu.pl

Hello, So I was browsing allegro (something like polish ebay) and I've found this: http://allegro.pl/alcatel-7100-rarytas-unikat-zabytek-i5889329416.html What kind of computer/device is this? Judging from the listing description, seller seems to know nothing about the machine. The only remotely relevant thing I've found while googling "alcatel 7100" was [1], but I think it's a red herring. This device definitely does *not* look like an ordinary 386/486 PC clone. [1] - http://www.museo8bits.es/wiki/index.php/Lista_de_ordenadores_compatibles_co… Cheers, Tomasz

10 years, 5 months

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Pulling Capacitors From Above

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I have resolved that to get my H7874 PSU working better I am going to have to bite the bullet and replace some electrolytic capacitors which cannot be desoldered from below, at least not without some significant surgery on the board (there are components soldered to the underside of the board and attached to a large heatsink, all those components would have to be desoldered so that the heatsink can be removed to get access to the underside of the board). I have had the suggestion to pull the old ones out from above, and then solder in the new ones from above. These are relatively small radial types (330uF, 25V). I am sure the pins will just pull out of the bodies of the capacitors, leaving me to desolder the pins from above, which should be OK. But, I am worried about doing damage to the board by just pulling them "cold". Are they really just going to pull out of the capacitor body, or does anyone have any tips for doing this in the least damaging way possible? Thanks Rob

10 years, 5 months

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Canvas Print of part of a PDP-1

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

looks good Todd! wall art is good to have! Ed# In a message dated 12/28/2015 10:54:47 A.M. US Mountain Standard Tim, tsg at bonedaddy.net writes: For what it's worth, I bought myself a Christmas present of: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151918395795 Which is a print of a PDP-1 system (well, part of one anyway) on canvas. It's not inexpensive but the ePay auction has a %-off "sale" going on and the web site has coupons available to reduce the list price. If you don't want to deal with ePay then you can check out their web site at http://www.greatbigcanvas.com. No connection and I can certainly understand that people might want to spend the not inconsiderable amount on real hardware but I was pleased with the result when it arrived today. Todd

10 years, 5 months

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Old VCF East/West videos are going online

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

is this Evan? if In a message dated 12/28/2015 11:33:10 A.M. US Mountain Standard Tim, cctalk at snarc.net writes: > or who ever was supposed to get it done! > Ed# I don't know what "plaque dedication" you're talking about. Email me privately / off-list.

10 years, 5 months

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IBM channel-attached DASD emulation

by h.j.stegeman＠hccnet.nl

Hi Mike, A few corrections: 1) Some disk OEM's produced 3340 compatable diskdrives in the 70's. The OEM manufacturer connected their equipment direct to the internal S/3 channel. I have only seen 1 CPU at a scrapper which had this. 2) The BUS/TAG connector/cables are the same as used by IBM for 360/370 channel, but are used between the IOP and the 3340 disk string. They do not carry 360 channel signals but special IOP --> disk signals. 3) CPU --- int chan ---> IOP ---> IDE/SCSI drive. (IOP has modified HW & FW) See: http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/370/fe/3125/SY3 3-1063-1_3125_Processing_Unit_Input_Output_Processor_Nov73.pdf Regards Henk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ On Sun, Dec 27, 2015 at 10:29 PM, Henk Stegeman <h.j.stegeman at hccnet.nl> wrote: > Hi Mike, > > Here are the options to attach 3340 DASD emulation to an IBM System/3 > > 1) direct connect to the internal channel of the S/3. Some disk OEM's did > this. > Requires a FPGA with at one side MST-1 interface logic and at the other side > IDE or SCSI interface. > The availabe IBM documentation is complete enough to finish this project. > You need good IBM HW & VHDL knowledge. Oh interesting - I had no idea! Do you have names and product numbers for those OEMs? Any more info? Ever seen one? If they were sold commercially by OEMs then the project already IS finished so to speak; it's just a question of *finding* one! Or finding the documentation and using that as a basis for re-creating the OEM solution. It doesn't require any hard-to-perform or reverse changes to the S/3? No backplane rework or wire wrap? It was just a case of plugging OEM cards into appropriate slots? > 2) direct connect to the BUS/TAG interface connector. > This needs a 8+P bit stream. You have to do some reverse engineering to > figure out what the exact format is. > I have no idea if the HW must be implemented in a FPGA (for timing reasons) > or if an AVR processor will do the job. > Advantage is that you don't have to modify anything inside the S/3. And the other advantage is that it could be part of a more generalizable device that could be used to replace other Bus/Tag peripherals on other IBM systems... if some of us were to start a home-brew project that might be the best approach to take. > 3) IBM has implemented an IOP (I/O Processor) between the S/3 CPU and the > 3340 drives. > This IOP is a modified version of the ones used in the IBM 370/115 & 125. It > is a powerfull multi thread capable beast. > With small HW modification you can connect an IDE or SCSI drives to it. > The difficult part is modifying the firmware of the IOP. This requires a > special assembler (to be written) and very good assembler skill's. If IBM have already implemented it then ready to use IOPs exist or at one time existed out there in the wild... your reference to modifying IOP firmware... do you mean to connect to the S/3 - or to attach IDE or SCSI? Or both? Does this IOP have an IBM model number? Was it a separate box or a set of cards and backplane that could be installed in the 370? I hope to be getting a 370/125 next year... Fascinating info Henk; I had no idea any of this stuff existed. I thought the only options for S/3 5415 were real hardware 3340s or nothing. Mike

10 years, 5 months

1
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DEC Unibus backplanes/options

by useddec＠gmail.com

I have the following backplanes, most have all the boards with them. DB11-A bus repeater DH11-A 16 chan com DP11-PA DR11-B general purpose interface DV11- RK611- I have one put aside for another list member RM11-A massbus TM03 tape formatter Several DD11-D backplanes- 9 slot spc Please contact me off list if you have any questions or interest. There may be a few more later. Shipping from 61853 Thanks, Paul

10 years, 5 months

2
2
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Old VCF East/West videos are going online

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

or who ever was supposed to get it done! Ed# In a message dated 12/28/2015 10:32:51 A.M. US Mountain Standard Tim, cctalk at snarc.net writes: > Did they ever get the plaque dedication video finished Evan? > Ed# They?

10 years, 5 months

2
1
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Canvas Print of part of a PDP-1

by tsg＠bonedaddy.net

For what it's worth, I bought myself a Christmas present of: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151918395795 Which is a print of a PDP-1 system (well, part of one anyway) on canvas. It's not inexpensive but the ePay auction has a %-off "sale" going on and the web site has coupons available to reduce the list price. If you don't want to deal with ePay then you can check out their web site at http://www.greatbigcanvas.com. No connection and I can certainly understand that people might want to spend the not inconsiderable amount on real hardware but I was pleased with the result when it arrived today. Todd

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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Old VCF East/West videos are going online

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Did they ever get the plaque dedication video finished Evan? Ed# In a message dated 12/27/2015 10:45:51 P.M. US Mountain Standard Tim, cctalk at snarc.net writes: Good news! A bunch of old VCF East/West videos are going onto YouTube, thanks to ANTIC / Atari Podcast's Kevin Savetz stepping forward to do the grunt work. The first batch are talks from VCF East 6.0 (2009). YouTube playlist is at https://t.co/yYRr7rP7R4. We also asked Jason Scott to bring the videos into Archive.org as they go online.

10 years, 5 months

2
1
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Software for DEC MINC systems

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Mark Matlock > either 11/23 or 11/73 CPUs (limited to 256KB by the MINC Q18 bus) Have you thought about upgrading the backplane/bus to 22 bits (shouldn't be too hard) - or do you want to keep it original? Noel

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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Apple IIe Platinum key mechanism replacement

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Making my junk look less like junk. Nothing groundbreaking for the engineers in this group but may be of interest to those voyeurs/nostalgerists that like looking at close-ups of the keycaps...or not... http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2015-12-27-appleiIIe-plantinum-key… Terry (Tez)

10 years, 5 months

2
1
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Looking for 3COM 3C905-TX Drivers

by marc.verdiell＠gmail.com

You need OSR2, and even then it's hard to get Win95 OSR2 to work reliably with TCP/IP. You'll first need to add the TCP/IP client for Microsoft Networks protocol, as it's not even installed by default (darn Microsoft!). By default it has only NetBUI and Netware, which must have paid them money... I could browse the web, but not get file sharing working. In the end I switched to Win98 SE and it was a lot smoother on the networking side. Marc >From: "Robert Jarratt" <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> >The drivers from the HP Enterprise site worked, although for >Windows 95 I have been unable to get TCP/IP working. DHCP is not working and >ping moans about a wrong protocol. It looks like I am missing VUDP.386 and I >could not find it on the Windows 95 CD. I am pretty sure I have another CD >with OSR2 somewhere, but I can't find it at the moment. Will have another >look at some point, but I think the driver itself is just fine now. >Regards >Rob

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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Old VCF East/West videos are going online

by cctalk＠snarc.net

Good news! A bunch of old VCF East/West videos are going onto YouTube, thanks to ANTIC / Atari Podcast's Kevin Savetz stepping forward to do the grunt work. The first batch are talks from VCF East 6.0 (2009). YouTube playlist is at https://t.co/yYRr7rP7R4. We also asked Jason Scott to bring the videos into Archive.org as they go online.

10 years, 5 months

1
0
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Looking for 3COM 3C905-TX Drivers

by marc.verdiell＠gmail.com

>From: "Robert Jarratt" <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> >Does anyone happen to have drivers for this card? I am not sure what OSs >this card was supported on, so any drivers at all would be appreciated. I have a few versions of the drivers. They are part of Windows 98SE and Windows XP distribution though, I had the card recognized on its own on by both of these (and I suspect NT too though I didn't try). Needs more help on Windows 95. If you can't get it to work from the links send me an email. Which reminds me I should ask for some drivers too... Marc

10 years, 5 months

4
5
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IBM channel-attached DASD emulation

by h.j.stegeman＠hccnet.nl

Hi Mike, Here are the options to attach 3340 DASD emulation to an IBM System/3 1) direct connect to the internal channel of the S/3. Some disk OEM's did this. Requires a FPGA with at one side MST-1 interface logic and at the other side IDE or SCSI interface. The availabe IBM documentation is complete enough to finish this project. You need good IBM HW & VHDL knowledge. 2) direct connect to the BUS/TAG interface connector. This needs a 8+P bit stream. You have to do some reverse engineering to figure out what the exact format is. I have no idea if the HW must be implemented in a FPGA (for timing reasons) or if an AVR processor will do the job. Advantage is that you don't have to modify anything inside the S/3. 3) IBM has implemented an IOP (I/O Processor) between the S/3 CPU and the 3340 drives. This IOP is a modified version of the ones used in the IBM 370/115 & 125. It is a powerfull multi thread capable beast. With small HW modification you can connect an IDE or SCSI drives to it. The difficult part is modifying the firmware of the IOP. This requires a special assembler (to be written) and very good assembler skill's. All options requires quite alot of time to implement. My 2 cents Henk

10 years, 5 months

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IBM channel-attached DASD emulation

by tmfdmike＠gmail.com

I've recently been poking about with various bits of emulation with hardware interfaces... Dave's MFM emulator; various SCSI-to-USB or SCSI-to-SDcard devices; my Setasi RP12 Massbus disk emulator; the Sigma Seven Lisa widget/ProFile emulator etc. What about IBM channel-attached DASD? There are various CPUs lying around in private collections and museums - System/360s; System/370s; System/3 Model 15s; all used channel-attached DASD: and working reliable disks are much rarer than the damn CPUs! Questions: 1. There are or were various 3rd party companies producing rather obscure emulated DASD replacement subsystems - Virtualblue and Bustech are two names that come to mind. Has anyone looked into the possibility of using them to emulate older devices that would be usable on the above vintage CPUs? 2. To those with hardware design experience: how big a task do you reckon it would be to do this as a home-brew with modern hardware - exactly as Dave did with his MFM emulator? Is it feasible? Do the entire thing in software - Pi or Arduino or FPGA - with appropriate driver electronics to drive a channel interface? I've BCC'd some experts with experience - Rich Alderson; William Donzelli; Henk Stegeman - in the hope that they'll be able to contribute. What do people reckon would be the best target for emulation? 3340 springs to mind initially... would that work on machines as old as System/360s? It's about the *only* option for 5415 DASD... (To digress briefly - a modern reimplementation of something like the Setasi Massbus disk emulator would also be very useful; Rich - weren't LCM working on something like that?) Mike http://www.corestore.org 'No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother. Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame. For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see.'

10 years, 5 months

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Seasons greetings

by c.murray.mccullough＠gmail.com

To all readers/followers of this website - for those who love classic/vintage computers - I want to wish all the best of the holiday season no matter what your beliefs. In this day of political correctness it is simply to acknowledge Mother Nature's transition >from fall to winter and we should take time from our busy schedules to reflect on this 'special' time of the year. Happy computing! Murray :)

10 years, 5 months

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VAX 4000-500 PSU Overload?

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

My VAX4000-500 will no longer power up, with the PSU starting up and then immediately shutting down. I suspect a possible short somewhere. I have measured the resistance of the load presented to the PSU by connecting probes to the backplane sockets used to power the machine. The odd one is the 5V load. With all the boards in and drives inserted I measure a resistance of about 4R. As I pulled out boards, drives and fans, it gradually crept up to 6R. So with nothing connected to the backplane I get a 6R load across the 5V supply. To my inexperienced mind, that seems a bit low. Should I expect such a value, or should I be dismantling the box to investigate possible shorts or failed components on the backplane? Additionally, the 12V side seems to be charging a capacitor as the resistance slowly climbs to about 130K. Is that reasonable? Again, nothing but the backplane. The 3.3 and -12V show very high resistance at all times. Thanks Rob

10 years, 5 months

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Looking for WinXP drivers for Trident Video Cyber9520

by marc.verdiell＠gmail.com

In the series "looking for drivers". I have taken to using DolchPac 65's as my retro workhorses so I can multi-boot DOS, Win98 , WinNT, WinXP and Linux while sticking weird old PCI and ISA interface cards in it. One of the OS always ends up having some software for the card. It has a custom video card that identifies itself as a "Trident Video Accelerator 3D Cyber9520". I found the driver for Win98 which works very well, the machine came pre-installed running NT, and Linux installs a driver that is a bit glitchy but usable (I can't believe I could run modern Linux on this!). The video is auto-recognized and the right driver installs under XP, but the default version is ultra-buggy, video gets corrupted. Does anyone have an updated driver for this chip? Internet didn't come up with anything apart from the ones necessitating scary hardware scanners that crashed my old machine anyhow. Marc

10 years, 5 months

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Merry Christmas

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

Just wanted to say a very sincere Thank You to all the talented folks that hang out here and call this place home, and also to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. Best, Jay West jwest at classiccmp.org

10 years, 5 months

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Piggybacking 74LS logic chips to confirm a suspected fault

by jonas＠otter.se

>> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- >> Van: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] Namens Terry Stewart >> Verzonden: dinsdag 22 december 2015 21:50 >> Aan: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts >> Onderwerp: Piggybacking 74LS logic chips to confirm a suspected fault >> >> Hi, >> >> I've written up my recent third Apple II repair, this time an Apple IIe. >> http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2015-12-22-appleiIIe-no-video.htm >> >> One interesting aspect of this repair is that piggy-backing a logic chip helped >> confirm a faulty one. I'd only ever used this technique with RAM. >> I'm sure it only works if the chip has a particular type of fault, but it worked this >> time for me. >> >> Terry (Tez) > > I use a HP 10529A logic comparator on regular basis for fault finding in ttl circuits. > It compares a reference chip with the CUT (Chip under test;) it's a very nice diagnostic tool. > It's a bit like piggy backing just a little more sophisticated :0 > > -Rik In my experience, the type of socket you used is quite unreliable and will tend to develop bad contacts. There is a reason they are cheap... I would use a turned pin type socket instead, e g an Augat socket. They will not let you down. More expensive, but considering the work involved in replacing a socket and the risk of messing up the PCB, the cost is negligible. Jonas

10 years, 5 months

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More Manuals

by radiotest＠juno.com

BAMA is probably the best known site for old test equipment and amateur radio manuals, followed by Ebaman. Dale H. Cook, GR / HP Collector, Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA http://plymouthcolony.net/starcity/radios/index.html

10 years, 5 months

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IBM channel-attached DASD emulation

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Guy Sotomayor > It's typical of most of the vintage gear. Folks save the CPUs and ditch > the peripherals. It's not entirely sloth and stupidity, though. Disk drives in particular (usually the biggest issue in this area) are complex precision machinery that operate at very high speeds, etc, and working on them is a formidable job, and requires specialized parts which are, in general, no longer available. > I think the biggest problem is that there isn't a spec per-se on > Massbus. A lot of reverse engineering will be required to make it work > properly in all cases. If it were done, though, that would be wonderful, especially for people with PDP-11/70's; the UNIBUS on those machines is reputedly the slowest of any PDP-11, so having mass storage on the MASSBUS is really necessary for good performance. (Apologies for my -11 centrism in an IBM-focused thread... :-) But finding the connectors (and probably the cables too) is going to be a cast-iron nightmare. Maybe we could settle on an alternative (the way I think we should switch to pairs of dual cards with Berg/DuPont headers, with standard flat cables between them, to replace the now-unobtainable BC11-A's - DEC showed this works, with the M9014/M9042..) Noel

10 years, 5 months

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The best spreadsheet / database program for Commodore 64?

by tulsamike3434＠gmail.com

Is there anything like Appleworks 1.0 for the commodore 64? if so could you be kind enough to give me the name of the program? I have searched but have found nothing of any value. I just would like a checkbool ledger and a savings spreadsheet.

10 years, 5 months

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Looking for 3COM 3C905-TX Drivers

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

Not too long ago I picked up a DEC Venturis FX 5120. It contains a 3COM 3C905-TX network card. There are some sites around the web that purport to have drivers for this card, but I am very wary of downloading anything from these sites. Does anyone happen to have drivers for this card? I am not sure what OSs this card was supported on, so any drivers at all would be appreciated. Thanks Rob

10 years, 5 months

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More Manuals

by wrcooke＠wrcooke.net

Hi all, I just signed up today and haven't been admitted to the group, so I couldn't reply to the appropriate message. But, in browsing through recent messages I saw the one with a link to loads of manuals. My first thought was that if that was interesting, this one would be too. Manuals for tons of old test equipment. http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/ Will

10 years, 5 months

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PDP-12 Restoration at the RICM

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

Lots more work on the PDP-12 at the RICM. We got an RS-232 console board and baud rate generator from Vincent and now have both serial ports working. Warren modified Kyle's SerialDisk and we booted OS/8 from an emulated RK05 on the second serial port. We fixed one of the bus interface boards in the DW8E Omnibus expansion chassis, and connected the RX8E/RX02. We were able to boot OS/8 from an RX01 diskette. We replaced an M160 flip-chip and now the EAE instructions work. We replaced an M103 flip-chip and the KW12 clock works. This system is new enough that ECO EM12-0055 for the KW12 was installed when it was built. This means that the KW12 Maindecs earlier than D8CD will not work. We cleaned up the PC04 paper tape reader/punch and connected it to the PC8E. The punch works OK, but the reader does not always step correctly and does not read the tape correctly. Fixing this will be the next project. Once we get the PC04 working the next project will be the RK8E/RK05. Out of frustration we set aside fixing the TC12 LINCtape controller. We see spikes on data track #3 that corrupt the data. We swapped the TU56 for a known good TU55, swapped the data/control cable, and swapped every flip-chip that is related to data track #3. Nothing has eliminated the spikes. The only part that we have not swapped is the backplane wiring between the data cable and the G882 flip-chips. Warren has a plan to temporarily replace that. We found that the maintenance prints that came with the system do not include ECO EM12-0055. Does anyone have a set of KW12 prints that include ECO EM12-0055? -- Michael Thompson

10 years, 5 months

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Massive document depository

by j＠ckrubin.us

This was shared on the TekScopes mailing list - http://bee.mif.pg.gda.pl/ciasteczkowypotwor/ "Massive" is an understatement. Jack

10 years, 5 months

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Piggybacking 74LS logic chips to confirm a suspected fault

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Hi, I've written up my recent third Apple II repair, this time an Apple IIe. http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2015-12-22-appleiIIe-no-video.htm One interesting aspect of this repair is that piggy-backing a logic chip helped confirm a faulty one. I'd only ever used this technique with RAM. I'm sure it only works if the chip has a particular type of fault, but it worked this time for me. Terry (Tez)

10 years, 5 months

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EAI TR-10 Patch Plugs

by dave.g4ugm＠gmail.com

Folks, I own an EAI TR-10 analog computer which sadly came without any patch cables and accessories. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, BUT the TR-10 comes with special resistive plugs which go at the ends of the patch leads. These have a 4mm plug and socket with a 10k or 100k resistor in between. I can't figure out a way to easily fabricate replacements. I can easily obtain 4mm plugs and sockets, and solder a resistor between them, but when I try and mount them on a short rigid tube all my efforts fail. The plug and socket need to be twisted in opposite directions and any soldered joint just fails. Any usggestions? Does any one have some of these and if so how are they constructed? Dave Wade G4UGM

10 years, 5 months

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S/36 for sale. Also AS/400 - Greenville, SC

by dave.g4ugm＠gmail.com

Not sure if folks on here follow the Vintage Forums. http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?50494-Complete-IBM-Sy stem-36-with-AS-400-Advanced-36-tower-and-IBM-4234-Dot-Band-Printer Dave G4UGM

10 years, 5 months

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Merry Christmas

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Yes and a Marry Christmas to you and yours Jay! Ed# In a message dated 12/24/2015 7:15:45 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, jwest at classiccmp.org writes: Just wanted to say a very sincere Thank You to all the talented folks that hang out here and call this place home, and also to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. Best, Jay West jwest at classiccmp.org

10 years, 5 months

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HP 16702A logic analyzer failed Ethernet (was Re: dumping Western Digital Microms)

by spacewar＠gmail.com

I wrote about my HP 16702A not working on Ethernet any more. On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 8:08 AM, Glen Slick <glen.slick at gmail.com> wrote: > Assuming you are using 10BT for the network connection, do > you have the terminator cap installed on the 10B2 BNC jack? I think > some things don't work right with the 16700A/16702A network without > that terminator cap installed. I tried it. Didn't work. I also tried connecting the 10base2 to a 10 Mbps hub, and another port to my "real" network, and that still didn't work. As HP-UX boots, it says: <timestamp> auto_parms >> Network was disabled by boot scripts on previous oot. Re-activating the network. 8/16/6 <macaddr> 0 UP lan0 DOWN 4 ETHER Yes 52 <timestamp> auto_parms >> /sbin/auto_parms, checking network for DHCP server (see /etc/auto_parms.log) Then in the progress list, it shows: Configure LAN interfaces .................... [FAIL] * Check LAN Status .............................. [N/A ] [...] Configure HP Ethernet interfaces ......... [ OK ] Configure HP 100BT interfaces ............ [N/A ] Configure LAN interfaces ..................... [ OK ] Then once the logic analyzer application is up, it shows an error log window, which says There was a DHCP error . Network was disabled. But if I go to network settings, it says: Network hardware not usable - Is the network connected? And all of the radio buttons (e.g., to select "standard" configuration instead of DHCP) are greyed out and I can't configure it. I think the Ethernet ports on this beast are dead. :-( I'm not sure whether it's the CPU board or the I/O board that is dead, but Keysight, or whoever they are this week, wants more money for either of those boards than eBay pricing for a used 16700A or 16702A.

10 years, 5 months

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PDP-12 Restoration at the RICM

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2015 20:56:51 -0600 > From: Jay Jaeger <cube1 at charter.net> > Subject: Re: PDP-12 Restoration at the RICM > Message-ID: <567A0D73.2010304 at charter.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > I have an image of MAINDEC-12-D8CD-PB, and a listing as well > (MDEC-12-D8CD-L in my inventory). Let me know if you need them as well > as the drawings (see below). It is in an archive folder with a bunch of > other interesting PDP-12/PDP-8 stuff. > I wrote a program to export a BIN formatted file from a LINCtape image so we were able to make a BIN image of MAINDEC-12-D8CD. This runs OK, where the D8CC does not. Can you give me a pointer to the SerialDisk info? Sounds interesting. > Kyle's SerialDisk is here: https://github.com/drovak/os8diskserver > Hopefully you can actually fix the original M160 and M103 cards. > We have been able to fix all types of broken flip-chips. Sourcing the components is sometimes a challenge. The Germanium transistors for the TU20 on the PDP-9 were hard to find. > > > > We found that the maintenance prints that came with the system do not > > include ECO EM12-0055. > > Does anyone have a set of KW12 prints that include ECO EM12-0055? > The prints that came with this PDP-12 are here: http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp12/maintenance/DEC-12-HR2B-D_… Now that I looked in the ECO block I can see that they actually do incorporate ECOs 55 and 57. The machine wiring does not match the CLC page, so maybe there are more recent ECOs in the machine and not in the prints. We visited the RCS/RI crew last weekend and used their PDP-12 to format some LINCtapes. At least we have some freshly formatted, known good, LINCtapes for the TC12 debugging. Jay, we are interested in anything PDP-12 related that we don't have. The PDP-12 is described here: http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/dec-pdp-12 Details on the PDP-12 restoration process are here: http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/dec-pdp-12/dec-pdp-12-restor… -- Michael Thompson

10 years, 5 months

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