test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

I could use a hint... I have a USB to current-loop (Volpe) interface board, and Windows 7 on my laptop does recognize it as COM4 at 110 baud. So far so good. No problem hooking it up to my ASR-33 Teletype. Now I'd really like to figure out how to set SIMH to use the 33 as the console, so the TTY will be attached to the virtual PDP-8. I do have OS/8 and TSS/8 running on SIMH with the laptop as console. Just don't know how to make it "talk" to the USB serial port instead. Anything that starts with "set console..." gives a "no settable parameters" error. Thanks for any hints. -Charles --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

6 years, 8 months

Test message

by tmfdmike＠gmail.com

I was banned for ages, I've been told I'm not any more; test post; disregard. Mike

6 years, 8 months

Connecting SIMH to teletype via USB

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

I got ahead of myself a little bit... forgot I still couldn't connect a serial port to SIMH. Turns out my version of SIMH 3.08 was from 2008 or so... I just downloaded the latest version 4 from GitHub and sure enough it does accept SET CONSOLE SERIAL. Now I just have to figure out the port name since it doesn't like COM4: But I'm almost there :) -----Original Message----- From: Charles Sent: Friday, September 13, 2019 6:46 PM To: J. David Bryan ; cctalk digest Subject: Re: Connecting SIMH to teletype via USB Update: got my SIMH (set console telnet:23) talking to PuTTY in another window, via Telnet 127.0.0.1:23. So it is possible ;) Now it's time to hook up the actual TTY to the USB-current loop card and see what's what! -----Original Message----- From: J. David Bryan Sent: Friday, September 13, 2019 6:23 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Cc: Charles Subject: Re: Connecting SIMH to teletype via USB On Friday, September 13, 2019 at 15:42, Charles via cctalk wrote: > I could use a hint... I have a USB to current-loop (Volpe) interface > board, and Windows 7 on my laptop does recognize it as COM4 at 110 > baud. So far so good. No problem hooking it up to my ASR-33 Teletype. > > Now I'd really like to figure out how to set SIMH to use the 33 as the > console, so the TTY will be attached to the virtual PDP-8. Section 3.14, "Console Options" of the "SIMH Users' Guide V4.0" suggests that: set console serial=com4;110-8n2 ...should work (though you might need "7e2" or "7o2" instead, depending on how your Teletype is set up). > Anything that starts with "set console..." gives a "no settable > parameters" error. Does the above also give this error? -- Dave --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

6 years, 8 months

Test message

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

Sorry, we did not receive your message. Have you tried turning it off and back on again? :) --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

6 years, 8 months

IBM System/32 available in Helsinki

by binarydinosaurs＠gmail.com

Folks, I've been made aware by Michael Ross (who for some reason can't join this list) that there is a System/32 available for not much money in Helsinki. If you're 100% interested the contact is stidialla at gmail.com Cheers! -- adrian/witchy Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest private home computer collection? t: @binarydinosaurs f: facebook.com/binarydinosaurs w: www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk

6 years, 8 months

MSV11

by useddec＠gmail.com

Hi Doug, If you are going to VCFMW, I can bring you a DEC M8044 for $25. Need anything else? Thanks, Paul

6 years, 8 months

Heath/Zenith Z100 technical...

by jules.richardson99＠gmail.com

I just picked up a board set from a Zenith Z-100 (not sure if it was a 110 or 120 model) which had been junked. I threw this out on the sebhc mailing list too, but perhaps someone here knows: a) If the machine's keyboard is completely passive (i.e. just a bunch of switches), or if there's any intelligence to it, b) If the system will start up with no boards plugged in (other than the bitmap display PCB) - i.e. no S100 FDC or winchester, c) If "yes" to the previous, whether the mainboard/bitmap board will function on just +5V and +/-12V (i.e. without the S100 +8V and +/-16V rails) Trying to power up what I have might be fun, but I'm really not sure about the lack-of-keyboard issue - if it's just switches and decoded via the mainboard then rigging something might be possible, but if there's some kind of higher level serial protocol involved then maybe it's too much hassle. I don't have a S100 bus machine kicking around to power things with at present (but of course rigging something would not be too difficult). I'm not sure what kind of details the documentation went into, either - I've got a Z-89 and the docs there are extremely technical, with full schematics, but I'm not seeing any equivalent online for the Z100 series (there seems to be very little out there about them at all - came too late in the S100 era, perhaps?) cheers Jules

6 years, 8 months

Ferroresonant transformer supply repair

by kylevowen＠gmail.com

Has anyone replaced the capacitor in a ferroresonant power supply with much success? My current understanding is that the capacitor and transformer are mated as a pair, so replacing just one of them would require careful consideration. The PDP-8/I I'm working on has a 704A in it, with a GE 8uF 660V capacitor. It measures a couple of nF on my capacitor meter, and I was told by the previous owner that it's dead. Any advice? Thanks, Kyle

6 years, 8 months

Ferroresonant transformer supply repair

by malcolm＠avitech.com.au

>Thanks! Someone else pointed me to Mouser as well. Was hoping to find something in stock, but I guess I can wait and go with Mouser; after all, the PDP-8/I has >been waiting well over 30 years for a new capacitor! > >Kyle It looks like Farnell/element14 have a couple in stock -> https://au.element14.com/search?st=8uf%20660v Element14 Order Number 2668607 Malcolm

6 years, 8 months

Looking for schematics of QBUS 32KW memory module.

by vintagecomputersmn＠gmail.com

Hello, A few weeks ago I ordered a Sigma 400255 for my H11A LSI-11 computer with the hopes of getting a 8" floppy hooked up for VCFMW. For the most part, all the tests I ran from the ODT seemed to be AOK. The one this I couldn't do it boot RT-11 from my TU58 emulator, as it would crash every time. Every since I was able to boot RT-11 on my machine it has been unstable and prone to crashes, but i chalked that up to the TU58 emulator, and not the machine itself. Since I needed to boot from to TU58 in order to INIT and make a bootable RT-11 disk for my system, I looked for other causes for the crashes. I ran the VKAA XXDP test, which passed fine. I then ZKMA test, which lo and behold listed back there were numerous bad addresses all over memory. The only memory modules I have are 3 nearly identical 3rd party 32KW memory modules. The one that I have in the system right now came with it, and is the one with memory errors. The other two are ones I bought on eBay that are in rather poor condition and currently do not work at all. I was hoping to transfer some of the 4116 chips from my nonfunctional units over to my semi-functional unit, but I cannot find schematics for any of the boards because they don't have any marking identifying marking on them. If anyone knows where I can find schematics for these boards, that would be wonderful. I am including a picture of one of these boards below. https://i.ibb.co/sQwZw0j/32kwram.jpg Thank You, Gavin Tersteeg

6 years, 8 months

ISO old AST mainframe comms driver software

by aek＠bitsavers.org

AST-coax, AST-432, AST-SNA, etc. IBM comms products circa late 80s I'm in the process of pdf-ing the manuals this afternoon. The only product disk I have is AST-3780

6 years, 8 months

Announcing VCF Pacific Northwest 2020

by mbbrutman＠brutman.com

The Vintage Computer Federation is pleased to announce Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest 2020! We will be at Living Computers:Museum+Labs in Seattle Washington on Saturday March 21st and Sunday March 22nd, 2020. To make this happen we are looking for exhibitors, speakers and volunteers. Last year we had 28 exhibits and 6 presentations. We had a great time, we broke the museum attendance record (again), and we are looking to have a good time again in March. If you are thinking of traveling from outside of the region there is plenty to do in Seattle while you are here. Local attractions include the Connections Museum, the Pacific Science Center, MoPOP, the Boeing factory tour, Mr. Rainier, etc. Victoria, British Columbia is also a short distance away. See a more complete list at https://goo.gl/3emMWH . Details about VCF PNW 2020 can be found at http://vcfed.org/vcf-pnw . The exhibitor registration instructions can be found at http://vcfed.org/vcf-pnw/exhibitor-registration . I'm happy to answer questions by email too. Regards, Mike mbbrutman at brutman.com or michael at vcfed.org

6 years, 8 months

Looking for schematics of QBUS 32KW memory module.

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Mister PDP > listed back there were numerous bad addresses all over memory. > ... > I cannot find schematics for any of the boards You can repair MOS memory boards where the board is basically working, but just has some failing memory chips, without schematics. First you need to create a map which translates memory chip # to bits. You have 32 chips in the array, so there are probably 2 32KB banks, each 16 bits wide. Pull a chip, and then try and figure out which bit it is; then repeat with other chips to try and figure out which bits are stored in which chips. (Unless the designers were insane, each chip will hold the same bit in all the words in that bank.) On yours, the memory chips are in sockets, which makes this less painful. (On boards where the chips are soldered in, a program which loops, storing a word with a single 1 bit, can be used to the same effect; the chip data sheet will tell you which pin is the data pin.) Usually a missing chip results in bits stored in that chip reading as '0', but it's possible they will read back as 1. Anyway, to test the first possibility, start by finding a location in the each bank that can be written to all 0's and all 1's (read back after writing to verify). Next, pull a chip, and then try writing all 1's to that word in the low bank, and read it back. If it now has a 0 bit, congratulations i) you've verified that missing chips read as 0, ii) that chip is part of the low bank, and iii) the 0 bit tells you which bit that chip is - fill in that entry in your chip<->bit chart. If not, try the high bank word, and see if it now has a 0 bit. If not, try writing 0's to the high and low words, and check for a '1' bit; if so, i) missing chips read as 1, etc. If neither is true, check back here! Otherwise, try pulling another chip, and work out which bit that one is, and add it to the chart. Repeat for all 32 chips - although if you're lucky, after a couple you might find a pattern, and be able to predict which chips hold which bits. (But not always; many are random; see e.g.: http://gunkies.org/wiki/Q-RAM_11 http://gunkies.org/wiki/NS23M for some.) If so, do a few spot tests of your predictions to make sure your pattern is correct. With the completed chart in hand, given a failing word (address and bad data), you can work out which chip is at fault, and replace it. Repeat for all memory errors. Noel

6 years, 8 months

Mohawk Data Sciences 6401 Schematic?

by coryheisterkamp＠gmail.com

Hey Guys, I recently picked up an MDS 6401 Key-To-Tape unit in NCR guise to park next to my keypunches. It's been in storage for a couple decades and is in pretty decent shape. Even has a tape on it from when the university that had it pulled the plug and sent it off for surplus. Found an internal date code of 1971. The unit does actually show signs of life, but I suspect a power supply issue. Does anyone have a lead on a schematic? This here is basically what I'm working with: http://www.thecorememory.com/NCR_C-735_-_MDS_6401_Memories.pdf Thanks, Cory

6 years, 8 months

Info on testing vintage power supplies

by aperry＠snowmoose.com

Can anyone here provide a pointer to info on testing vintage power supplies? Search results on the web may eventually lead to the kind of info that I am looking for, but I have to get through too many pages of modern PC power supplies first. Specifically, I will be testing the power supplies in my Sun 3/260, which has 24V, 12V and 5V. I am wondering things like what is suitable loads and do I need to put a load on all three or can I test them one at a time and what I haven't thought of with regards to testing them. alan

6 years, 8 months

Searching cctalk/cctech

by aperry＠snowmoose.com

Is there a way to search all of cctalk and cctech? I found the archives, but that is split all of the postings in a given month. alan

6 years, 8 months

Shugart-Interface 8" Floppy Diskette Drive Configurability

by nf6x＠nf6x.net

I've been contemplating a floppy diskette drive emulator with features to make it fit better into systems using 50-pin Shugart style floppy drive interfaces vs. the other emulators already on the market. Studying manuals for various 8" floppy diskette drives, I see that they generally provided a great deal of configurability. There are the myriad of jumper-selectable options which change drive behavior for compatibility with various computers. Then there are features like FM data separators which are present on some, but not all, drives. And then there are many documented "cut this trace, then bodge wire this signal to pin X of the edge connector" options for special purposes such as individual drive motor controls, simultaneous monitoring of all four drive ready signals, etc. Since fully supporting all of the options I've seen documented would have real hardware cost and add complexity to the design, I'm wondering just how much of that configurability is really necessary. Which non-default options are really needed for system still in use and/or in the hands of collectors? Which were only ever provided for some obscure industrial system manufacturer, with no surviving systems in existence? Which were included just in case somebody might need them, but were never used in practice? I'd appreciate it if anybody can provide insight into this, such as examples of systems which required non-omnipresent and/or non-default configuration options. -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net> http://www.nf6x.net/

6 years, 8 months

Data General/Rolm milspec systems

by technoid6502＠gmail.com

Message: 4 Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2019 10:03:54 -0400 From: "Craig M." <cmook1968 at gmail.com> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: ROLM - Dat general 1602 - AN/UYK-19 computers. Message-ID: < CAD1aQJ5FnQDS7i+iLeh-+zBSBrzaqV9-f61Q76XgEbz=fSN+nw at mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Good Morning, Have you ever come across a document called the "Rolm I/O Designers Guide?" I am working with some developers trying to figure out the data words and how they work on a Navy AN/UYK-19 computer. I have some sticktime on the Eclipse machines. In going to boot camp getting my MV4000/DC I ran into some interesting characters. One was with DG on military sales, was visiting Groton? or another base where a test was being conducted. The computer was suspended on wires in a hangar and, while running, was subjected to simultaneous blows from heavy pendulums on either side. The noise was teriffic and my friend asked the same question, why on earth, to which the cryptic reply was two words: Depth Charges. Probably your USAF machine, corn field kept though it was, was designed for service in another kind of silo, the missile kind. Those would be projected to survive near-direct hits from megaton thermonuclear weapons. Not to mention that no air force property is immune from attack by all sorts of ordinance, nuclear or otherwise. Best, Jeff Another note, saw an old query on the "Rolm Computers: 1602, 1602A, 1602B, 1666, MSExx (was Data General Nova Star Trek)" thread about breaking down the military system designations. This website may help if you never got an earlier answer: https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/wordpress/2015/05/27/whats-in-a-name-… Thank you! Craig Mook

6 years, 8 months

keyboard list

by sales＠elecplus.com

This is the next list of keyboards I can bring in. Anybody want some of this? 2 IBM 6052141 IBM 1391401 missing some keycaps Apple M3501 nice ,no pluggable connect cable WYSE PCE,p/n 900840-01 Din-5 connector Data Desk Int,new/unused Din-5 Datatech SBK-100 Cadmus 00185-00 (dark grey) no plug-in connect cable 2 Chicony KB-5311 very nice Din5 Commodore KPR-E9447 unused Din 5 Honeywell 101WN unused Din-5 Keytronic KB101 Plus Din-5 Mitsumi KPQ-EA9YC looks good Din-5 Mitsumi NPQ-E99ZC-13 Din-5 HP C14058 If so, please send price offer for what you want. Shipping will be extra. Yes, I will ship internationally. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 830-370-3239 cell sales at elecplus.com --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

6 years, 8 months

Seeking enlightenment regarding Bus Adapter Purges on Unibus VAXen (and their ilk)

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- Been working on an MSCP implementation for Joerg Hoppe's Unibone project, and it's working well on PDP-11 systems; less well as of late on the VAX. I've been looking to tidy up a few dark corners in the MSCP spec and one thing that's left is bus adapter purges -- I have a pretty good grasp of Unibus mechanics these days but I'm not quite understanding the reasoning behind this. Here's what the Storage System Unibus Port Description (AA-L621A-TK) document says: "To support such higher-level protocol functions as transfer restarts, compares, etc., the host memory interface must allow repeated access to a given host memory location for both reads and writes. On purely Unibus systems such as 11/44, this requirement is trivially met with no participation by the host CPU. On systems with bus adapters such as the 11/780, the repeated access requirement means that the relevant adapter channel may have to be purged, requiring the active cooperation of the host CPU. The port signals its desire for an adapter channel purge by interrupting the host. The host writes zeroes to the SA register to indicate purge completion." This is also discussed, from the bus adapter point of view, in the technical documentation for the bus adapter itself. (See http://www.vaxhaven.com/images/2/29/EK-DW780-TD-001.pdf) It hasn't been particularly enlightening to me, but I will admit to not having read every page of this and the DW780 doc -- maybe I missed something :). I understand the mechanism here; in essence it's: 1) MSCP controller decides a purge is necessary after a DMA transfer and requests one by setting a value in a reserved slot in the communications area 2) Host system (MSCP driver) sees the special value, and issues a purge command to the bus adapter. 3) Host system then clears the value in the communications area 4) MSCP controller continues on its merry way. What I do not understand is (a) why such purges are necessary, and (b) how the MSCP controller knows when one should occur. The Port Description doc hints that it has to do with repeated access to a given area of memory. The DW780 documentation hints that it needs to happen after *any* block transfer. (See pg. 2-58 of the document linked above.) Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks! Josh

6 years, 8 months

ROLM - Dat general 1602 - AN/UYK-19 computers.

by cmook1968＠gmail.com

Good Morning, Have you ever come across a document called the "Rolm I/O Designers Guide?" I am working with some developers trying to figure out the data words and how they work on a Navy AN/UYK-19 computer. Another note, saw an old query on the "Rolm Computers: 1602, 1602A, 1602B, 1666, MSExx (was Data General Nova Star Trek)" thread about breaking down the military system designations. This website may help if you never got an earlier answer: https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/wordpress/2015/05/27/whats-in-a-name-… Thank you! Craig Mook

6 years, 8 months

A fun patent to wrap your head around

by aek＠bitsavers.org

5287534 "Correcting Crossover Distortion Produced When Analog Signal Thresholds Are Used To Remove Noise From Signal" It describes the DEC CXM04 board for the DS550 communications server, which inserts itself between an IBM establishment controller and a control unit (coax) terminal so the CUT can pretend it's a serial terminal to VAXen without dropping the polled connection to the IBM mainframe. weird..

6 years, 8 months

Wanted: ATV Research Pixie-Verter

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

Hi, For historical reasons (I'm starting to plan my VCF East 2020 exhibit) I'd like to get real ATV Research PXV-2A Pixie-Verter. I know that there were a lot of other RF modulators out there (I have a SUP "R" MOD II (that I might trade)) but I want this one in particular. Various S-100 boards and other vintage computer hardware available for trade or cash if necessary. Thanks, Bill Sudbrink --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

6 years, 8 months

pdp11/34s FTGH in Dublin Ireland

by ronan.scaife＠dcu.ie

Dear All (mainly UK and Ireland), We have a "lo-boy" DEC cabinet containing 2x pdp11/34a in half height boxes, and 2x RL02 drives. It is available for free to be collected in north Dublin, 5 miles from Dublin port. It is also about to be scrapped, so urgent action is required. Please contact ronan.scaife at dcu.ie. Best Wishes, -- -- ?This Email, and any files transmitted with it, are confidential, and are intended solely for use by the addressee. Any unauthorised dissemination, distribution or copying of this message and of any attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete the message. Any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and cannot be relied upon as being those of Dublin City University. Email communications such as this cannot be guaranteed to be virus-free, timely, secure or error-free, and we do not accept liability for any such matters or their consequences. Please consider the environment before printing this Email.? ==== Dr. Ronan Scaife =============== ronan.scaife at dcu.ie ========== School of Elec Eng, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, IRELAND. http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~scaifer/ phone (office): +353-1-700-5434 fax: +353-1-700-5508 ==================================================================== -- * *S?anadh R?omhphoist/Email Disclaimer* *T? an r?omhphost seo agus aon chomhad a sheoltar leis faoi r?n agus is lena ?s?id ag an seola? agus sin amh?in ?. Is f?idir tuilleadh a l?amh anseo.? <https://sites.google.com/view/seanadh-riomhphoist>* *This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are intended solely for use by the addressee. Read more here. <https://sites.google.com/view/dcu-email-disclaimer>* * -- <https://www.facebook.com/DCU/> <https://twitter.com/DublinCityUni> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/dublin-city-university> <https://www.instagram.com/dublincityuniversity/?hl=en> <https://www.youtube.com/user/DublinCityUniversity>

6 years, 8 months

SMD disks

by aperry＠snowmoose.com

My Sun 3/260 came with a pair of 8-inch SMD disks in a separate cabinet. 1. Anyone have a pointer to docs that describe cabling and configuring SMD disks? My Google-fu has failed here. 2. The system came with no cables (external cables between cabinets). Are these standard cables or will they be Sun-specific? 3. The system "ran when parked" about a dozen years ago, but it was left in an open barn after that. How likely is it that the disks will work and be readable? One is a Fujitsu M2333; don't recall what they other one is. alan

6 years, 8 months

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