test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

I have a CMD CQD-203/T (same board as the CQD-200, only with the S handle for the BA213) in my MicroVax 3900. This is a SCSI tape controller. Is there any way to upgrade/convert this board into the /MT (disk/tape) version of the board? Is it just a simple EPROM replacement, or something more complicated/impossible? In it's stock form, can this board work with a CDROM drive at all, or do I need the M or MT version for that? Thanks! -Ian

17 years, 10 months

Anyone had experience with this supplier of floppies?

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Jim Leonard writes: > I was looking for a source of new diskettes and found Athana here: > http://athana.com/html/diskette.html > > Anyone had experience with their product? I don't want to use these > only to be wiping goo off of the inside of my floppy drives five years > later... I bought and recommended their 8" floppies and compatible RL02 packs in the late 80's through mid-Lasnerian-90's. At the time I was going through sizeable lots (500, 1000 at a shot.) Worked fine back then... but it's been a long time! Tim.

17 years, 10 months

Anyone had experience with this supplier of floppies?

by trixter＠oldskool.org

I was looking for a source of new diskettes and found Athana here: http://athana.com/html/diskette.html Anyone had experience with their product? I don't want to use these only to be wiping goo off of the inside of my floppy drives five years later... -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/

17 years, 10 months

powering up older machines - is it safe?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: powering up older machines - is it safe? > From: "John F. Kuenzig" <jfk at kuenzigbooks.com> > Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:21:02 -0400 > To: cctech at classiccmp.org > >Hi all - I'm new to the list, been lurking for a while. By way of >introduction, back in the 80s I was a bonified software developer (wrote >a mag tape locking device for an early version of UNIX back when there >wasn't such a thing, did work in telecom test equipment and speech >recognition for years) but these days I'm in the old/rare book business, >technical books and all. I like old hardware, though don't have the >storage space for much. When I was in high school I took apart a Friden >computyper in my parents basement just to see what was in it. Still >have the "core memory" board around here somewhere. I've tried to >salvage manuals for old computers, component manufacturer technical >books, and an IMSAI or two over the years. Still have 20 boxes of old >components (everything from transistors, caps, resistors, etc to tubes) >in the garage I've accumulated over the years when I'm buying old books >from hobbyists - buried deep enough I don't even remember what's in them. > >Anyway, a friend asked me to try and sell a DEC Robin for him (he tells >me it's a DEC VT180 with a separate drive unit that he tells me was only >available to DEC employees), and my question is this: ;) have a few of them around. > >Is it safe to try and plug this machine in and try to power it up? I've >seen various discussions about old capacitors dying, etc but I'm not >sure if this machine is old enough to worry about. My plan was to try >and power it up (my consignor also gave me some software with it, not >sure if it's related or not yet), and see if it still ran ok, take some >photos for the group (if anyone wants to see it) and my own records, and >then try to sell it. It appears to be in good shape, in the original >boxes, "monitor" in one box w/keyboard (looks to be a VT180), and a disc >drive unit in the other. My consignor said it ran the last time he had >it out many years ago. I've always enjoyed and preferred photographs of >old machines with their startup screen displayed rather than a dark >screen. Seems like they have more life with a live screen. Generally yes in my exerience. The PS is a ASTEC switcher in the drive and DEC in the tube/system case. Customer could buy the second drive though when it was being sold it was very expensive. >Any pointers appreciated (on or off list) - what to do or check in what >order would be great. Its been a long time since I blew up directional >capacitors in lab...so long I don't even remember what they're called. >Thanks in advance!<grin> Generally every one I'd found powered up or was dead. The latter was "it was dead when I got it" from the person before me and likely dead >from the person before that. Watch the VT100 monitor board. There is a cap that should be a higher voltage part that fails in time taking parts. It's repairable if croaked but people panic when they see chared board. Allison Framingham,MA exdigit. >-- >Sincerely, > >John Kuenzig, Bookseller > >Kuenzig Books >PO Box 452, Topsfield, MA 01983 >978-887-4053 9am-7pm Eastern Standard Time >866-512-3053 tollfree 9am-7pm EST >orders at kuenzigbooks.com (orders or inquiries) > >Important Books in Science, Technology and Speculative Fiction > >Secure ordering at http://www.kuenzigbooks.com >Save time, money and earn other exclusive benefits. > >Members of: >ABAA http://www.abaa.org >MARIAB http://www.mariab.org >ESA http://www.ephemerasociety.org > >Buying 18th-21st century books, manuscripts, ephemera, >scientific instruments, artifacts, and related material

17 years, 10 months

Can you ID this early pen-based portable?

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

Please identify this computer for me if you can: http://members.cox.net/oldcomputerads/appraiser1.jpg Thanks- Steve.

17 years, 10 months

SuperBrain QD

by les＠frii.com

Subject: SuperBrain QD past millennium." Some of my systems are shown at www.8bit-matrix.net <http://www.8bit-matrix.net/> . If you would like then do not hesitate to have a look at you them there. Superbrains and the related Intertube had terrible switching power supplies. I would be very suspicious of the 5 volt line. As an aside, the shop I worked in at the time had a picture of a superbrain power supply on the wall, with the caption "component in question is easily located by the charred area". Les Hildenbrandt

17 years, 10 months

SuperBrain QD

by JSievers＠NADINE-Software.com

Hi, this my first message here on the list and so I may say "Hello, It is nice to be able to join so uncomplicated to this list and to be able to exchange itself with you over the miraculous computers of the past millennium." Some of my systems are shown at www.8bit-matrix.net <http://www.8bit-matrix.net/> . If you would like then do not hesitate to have a look at you them there. But now my actual problem. I have a SuperBrain in my collection which has an electronically problem. So I need the schematics for repair. I found some on the net but these are really unreadable because they are scanned in very low resolution an quality. When I have gotten the system the keyboard decoder chip (KR3600-XXX) was death. After I have installed a replacement the SB becomes running. After few minutes this chip was broken again and the screen driver was possibly gone with it. I have some experience and equipment to figure out electronically problems for repair. But without a readable schematics it would cost to much time. So I'm full of hope that someone here supports me to getting back this system to a proper and running state. By the way, is there a replacement (self-made GAL-XXX eg.) or source to get one original KR3600-XXX chip? Regards Juergen

17 years, 10 months

HP 9000 Pascal 3.2 : HFS on HP9133L

by jobs＠gmx.de

I was just browsing the web for some advice about HP Pascal 3.25. You were mentioning it while looking for HFS initialisation. Were you successful?. I have Pascal 3.2 or BASIC 6.4. Both support HFS. Did you find PASCAL 3.25 ??? Greetings. Jo ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dr. Joachim B?hrmann-Schulz Hardyweg 8 14055 Berlin jobs at gmx.de

17 years, 10 months

last-minute TI-990 available

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> This is not relevant to this particular rescue, but I know nothing > about these systems and am curious. What type of OS and app software > do machines like this run? 990's are 16 bit computers heavily influenced by the architecture of the pdp-11. The main difference is the working registers were kept in memory, allowing very fast context switches, at the expense of register access performance. Later machines cached the register sets. There was a small single-user floppy disk based os (for the 990/4 based on the TMS9900), but the main OS was DX-10, which was replaced by DNOS on the 990/12 series. Their primary use was in small buisiness, they had COBOL, FORTRAN, BASIC, and things like rje, data base and forms management packages, and networking. It seems they were widely used in inventory and parts management systems. The history of the 990 says the system was originally developed as part of a hotel management system. dave pitt's site (as well as bitsavers) are good sources of information http://www.cozx.com/~dpitts/ti990.html

17 years, 10 months

Transformer repairs

by dr.emiel＠xs4all.nl

Ade, I think you mean the small transformer with 6 wires attached, this transformer has 2 * 9VAC outputs and one AC-line input (230 or 110V depends on region) This transformer is the supply for the regulator IC's in the PSU the regulators are places on two small PCB's, on the large PCB there is a rectifier (Greatz) witch you have to check. If thats alright you have a reasonable change the PSU works after replacing the transformer with a similar type 2 * 9VAC 3 to 5VA. Rik -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- Van: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] Namens Ade Vickers Verzonden: woensdag 28 mei 2008 18:38 Aan: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' Onderwerp: Transformer repairs I was messing around with my SX-64 (which is on ePay as a working unit) yesterday, having located some software & a joystick for it. I was going to take a few photos of the new bits, etc.; for adding to the listing. Then: *sharp snap/crack noise*, lights go out. Aaaargh! OK, first things first: There was no burning smell, and no (visible) magic smoke released. The fuse wire in the glass fuse has been vapourised; the mains fuse survived. I replaced the fuse, which has not since blown, but the PSU is deader than a dead thing that's been dead for a week. Some careful poking around with the multimeter (before the multimeter went bang - ffs, I must have an anti-midas touch this week), then the oscilliscope, reveals that a secondary transformer on the PSU has failed. I presume it went dead short, then burnt itself + the fuse out simultaneously; hence the reason the replacement fuse hasn't blown. So, what I need to do now is replace the transformer, or get it repaired somehow (ideally before Sunday, when the ePay auction runs out - or, to definitely know it is unfixable in that timescale & thus cancel the auction). What I DO have, which might make a repair feasible, is a second SX-64; the only difference is, this one has a US (117v) PSU. Obviously, the primary transformer windings are going to be different, but is it possible/likely that the secondary transformer will be the same? Going by the part nos. I'm not terribly hopeful: UK Part no: TDK 68-0409 B8326A US Part No: TDK 68-0407 B8309A A quick google on any of those numbers reveals nothing... I don't have the means to create 117v 60hz power, so I can't test that way - and even if I could, it turns out that the US PSU has taken a wallop at some point, breaking the circuit board. :( Hey ho... any help gratefully received. TIA! Best Regards, Ade. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.24.1/1469 - Release Date: 27/05/2008 13:25

17 years, 10 months

Introduction

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

On 30 May, 2008, at 18:00, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > > Message: 9 > Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 17:11:02 +0200 > From: Oliver Lehmann <lehmann at ans-netz.de> > Subject: Introduction > To: Classic Computers Mailing List <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Welcome Oliver. > The system runs a Z8001 with 3 MMUs and Z80-peripherial ICs (PIO, > SIO...) > It also has 2 SIOs for 4 terminal connections, and one PIO to > connect the > WDC. The system also has two furhter PIO chips to establish a > connection > to the 8Bit system. The system runs with up to 4MB of DRAM but it > might > run with more RAM with self-made RAM modules. Three MMUs seems a bit weird. I last programmed a Z8001 in 1979 so maybe things have changed between then and when your machine was built. If I remember correctly, the Z8010 MMU mapped 64 of the 128 segments, you could have one MMU and address 64 chunks of up to 64k in the 16MB address range. With two MMUs you could access all 128 chunks. Are the MMUs set up for different processes, or are they divided into instruction and data accesses or some other way? The system I worked on would have eventually had 12 Z8001s each with one MMU and 128K of local RAM plus the CPU were grouped into modules of three and had about 3MB of RAM in the module and each module could also access the other 3 module's RAM, but with more wait states. Each Z8001 was responsible for managing a wide microprogrammed bit slice processor for doing heavy mathematics, though the details might still be secret even though the project was cancelled in the mid eighties, several years after I left the company. I got involved quite early, the first draft of the Z8001 instruction set manual which I was given included a memory to memory transfer instruction, but that was dropped before they issued the first sample chips about a year later. A bit of a blow as we had started writing a Coral 66 compiler for it by then. When I retire I might get around to getting myself a Z8001 system if there's any still around by then. I am kept busy at work programming Apple Macs and at home restoring a 1962 mainframe computer (ICT 1301) and restoring/maintaining my old cars (2 Daimlers, 2 Rovers, a Land Rover, a Jaguar and a BMW). I think you would have to be lucky to get your C code to use exactly the same registers as the original object code. Are you sure it was originally C or could it have been assembly code?

17 years, 10 months

OS/2 problems

by teoz＠neo.rr.com

Anybody happen to have disks for OS/2 2.1? I tried installing it today on my PS/2 65SX and disk #8 is bad. not sure if anything past that is good or not. Also I tried installing OS/2 1.1EE onto the same machine but fdisk could not find any drives. Since that machine is SCSI does OS/2 expect ESDI drives? TZ

17 years, 10 months

WOPR sells on eBay

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

This is actually a replica of the original WOPR that was commissioned for an AT&T commercial a couple years back. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220237845125 -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

17 years, 10 months

Removing panels from a DEC rack, and MicroVax current draw...

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

Well, just when I had thought that I'd had DEC racks figured out, I tried to disassemble this one. Now, every other DEC rack I've worked on, you just have to lift up (sometimes pretty hard) on the side panels, and they pop off. Not this one. This is a MicroVax 3900, that I have decided, likely against my better judgement, to install in my second floor computer room. Before it goes in there, I need to give it a good cleaning, and I'm going to bring it up in pieces. So far, I've gotten the RA90's out, removed the top, back and front, and now I'm trying to remove the BA213 from the rack. And, in order to do this, I need to take off the little latch/metal tab that holds the front door shut. It's held on with two screws, that can't be reached unless I remove that side panel. Upon closer inspection, I see that these side panels are somewhat different than the ones I'm used to. They are made of plastic! Yes, while they have the same white-edged, black side appearance, they are made of a thick, bombproof plastic rather than the usual metal. They won't lift off, I've put a fair amount of force on them, and they just won't pop off. I can't see any kind of retaining screw or tab, and I'm at a loss. Accoding to the back of the top panel, this is a Model 655QF-AZ, series H9644. Any ideas? Another thing I wonder about, is just how much juice will this sucker need? I have two RA90's, and the MicroVax 3900 system (BA213 chassis), with one RA70 in it, and a decent population of cards. The power distribution unit that came with the cabinet sports a 30A power connector, but I know that I should be able to run this off a regular 15A circuit. Question being, can I run anything else off that circuit too? -Ian

17 years, 10 months

Sick Atari STE wisdom sought

by gordonjcp＠gjcp.net

I've got an Atari 1040STE, which was previously working (well, after I blanket-resoldered the PSU - always a notorious spot for dry joints). After leaving it for a while, I came back to find it had locked up with the desktop showing, but not responding to keys or mouse. On rebooting I get a blank white screen - locked, but just blank - and the floppy drive doesn't spin up. Nor do I get keyclicks when I press the keys. What could I look at first? With the ST come up with the keyboard unplugged, or will it just sit there in silence? Gordon

17 years, 10 months

OS/2 problems

by Gary＠realtimecomp.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] > On Behalf Of Chuck Guzis > Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 10:15 AM > Subject: Re: OS/2 problems > What I don't have is the network version of OS/2 2.x. Does anyone > have that one? > > Cheers, > Chuck Chuck, I'm sure I have it, I have a ton of OS/2 stuff, but I'm just packing up for a move. Ping me again after the 10 or so, and I'll get it to you. Gary

17 years, 10 months

Beehive B103 terminals available near Kansas City, MO

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

Please contact the person below, I am just relaying this information: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nrpsbx01 at comcast.net I have a couple of Beehive B103 terminals that were made for InfoRex corp that I would like to find homes for. They are not currently working properly, although they were working prior to being stored. The CRTs display characters, but it is random and flashing. Probably just need a thorough cleaning. I'm offering them for no charge other than packing and shipping .... although I found that packaging and shipping costs are significant. The ideal situation would be if someone could pick them up. I'm in the Kansas City MO area. Interested parties may contact me at nrpsbx01 at comcast.net.

17 years, 10 months

Micron XCeed Color Card for Mac SE/30 near Seattle WA

by michaelgreen42＠comcast.net

I've got what I believe to be a complete Micron Xceed setup for a Mac SE/30. I know these are extremely rare and thought I would pass it by you guys to see if I get any offers. I'd really rather avoid the eBay cesspool, so seeing what the highest offer I can get would be. -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of cctech-request at classiccmp.org Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 10:03 AM To: cctech at classiccmp.org Subject: cctech Digest, Vol 58, Issue 2 Send cctech mailing list submissions to cctech at classiccmp.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctech or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to cctech-request at classiccmp.org You can reach the person managing the list at cctech-owner at classiccmp.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of cctech digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: PET 2001-8 progress... (Josh Dersch) 2. RE: Introduction (dwight elvey) 3. Re: DEC Brochures - already scanned? (Al Kossow) 4. RE: Tandy (Radio Shack) 6000 rescue (Geoff Reed) 5. Re: Introduction (Oliver Lehmann) 6. C <-> ASM translation problem (Oliver Lehmann) 7. Wang the Perverted (schwepes at moog.netaxs.com) 8. RE: Transformer repairs (Ade Vickers) 9. Thanks! RE:XT Diagnostic ROM and POSTcard (Andrew Lynch) 10. Re: Thanks! RE:XT Diagnostic ROM and POSTcard (Jim Leonard) 11. RE: Introduction (dwight elvey) 12. Re: Wang the Perverted (Jim Battle) 13. Re: Wang the Perverted (Roy J. Tellason) 14. Synertek KTM-3/80 -- 2 questions (Peter) 15. RE: Transformer repairs (dwight elvey) 16. Old style DEC 5-1/4" "pop panel" needed (will trade for 10 1/2") (Bob Armstrong) 17. RE: Thanks! REXT Diagnostic ROM and POSTcard (Andrew Lynch) 18. video game cartridges (David Griffith) 19. Re: video game cartridges (Chris M) 20. Re: video game cartridges (Mr Ian Primus) 21. Re: video game cartridges (Mr Ian Primus) 22. Re: video game cartridges (David Griffith) 23. Good Composite->VGA converters for classic computers (& video games...) (Josh Dersch) 24. Big Board I: micro cornucopia & user disk (Enrico Lazzerini) 25. Come Work at Bell Labs! (Jason T) 26. OS/2 problems (Teo Zenios) 27. Re: OS/2 problems (Teo Zenios) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 21:52:01 -0700 From: Josh Dersch <derschjo at msu.edu> Subject: Re: PET 2001-8 progress... To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <4840D971.1030807 at msu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Dave Dunfield wrote: >> Got out my ancient oscilloscope and did a bit of probing and got a >> little more info: >> >> On power up, the CPU reset line is held low for ~1 sec, then goes high. >> At this point if I look at the address/data lines, I can see a very >> brief burst of activity and then nothing at all (it's during this >> activity that a few characters on screen change). After this activity, >> all address lines are high. IRQ & NMI lines are high. CPU is being >> clocked throughout all of this, clock rate seems to be correct. >> > > Assuming that it is clocked and has been reset correctly, there are > generally only two reasons that a CPU stops running (fetching opcodes): > > 1) It is being held in a hardware wait state. > > Check the state of the RDY line on the 6502 and if it > is asserted, backtrace through the circuit to find out why. > RDY is being held high, which I believe is correct (my understanding >from reading 6502 specs indicates this is held low to halt the CPU...) > 2) It executes an instruction which causes it to stop > > Usually a HALT instructionor of some sort or other, there are sometimes > undocumented opcodes which cause this behaviour as well - A bit of > net searching should turn up details on the undocumented opcodes. > > There are generally two reasons why a processor would execute an opcode > to shut itself off: > > 1) On purpose > > Usually while waiting for an interrupt - given that you PET hasn't > even cleared it's screen, I doubt this is the case. > > 2) By executing "random" code > > Can be caused by: > - Bad ROM - actual code gets corrupted > - Bad RAM - stack failure results in "return" to random address > - Bad bus buffers - hardware failure resulting in corruption in the > address or data buses. > - Bad decode logic - no device or multiple memory devices being > selected when only one should be. > > I've seen a least two 2001's with bad ROM chips. And a number of PETs > with bad RAM - I'd suspect one of these two. > On a whim, I ran the machine without any of the ROMs installed and I get identical behavior to what I was already seeing (brief CPU activity, then nothing). I suspect the CPU is just reading garbage and something's broken between the CPU & RAM. The CPU's probably halting on a bogus instruction... I'm going to do some investigation in that area. Thanks for the suggestions... Josh > If you have a storage scope, you should be able to trigger on the > SYNC signal at the CPU and catch the last few opcode fetches - walking > the data and address bus signals and writing them down will reveal > the last opcode executed and the address from which it was executed. > > Alas, I don't. My 'scope's an ancient Tektronix 561A. Works great, but it's pretty simple. (And maybe a bit underpowered for this particular task...) > Look at the opcode that was executed to see what exactly caused the > CPU to stop. > > Try this a couple of times and see if the CPU is always stopping in > the same place. Scope the select lines and note *which* ROM was > selected for the last opcode fetch, or in the case of a "wild" access, > which ROM was selected last before it stopped. > > If the address where that opcode was fetched in within the ROM, get > the PET rom binaries and see if it's "supposed" to be there - a bit > of disassembly around that address should tell you if the code is > real code, or some random bit of data that the processor wandered > off into. If you can read the PET ROMs (I made an adapter to stuff > them into my homebuild EPROM programmer) you can compare against the > binaries to check the entire ROM content - The PET roms are not standard > pinouts - but you can make an adapter to put a normal ROM in the > socket - IIRC I needed a TTL chip to provide an extra select - I've > got photos on my site of a PET that I had to repair this way. > > If the address is NOT within the ROM, trigger on the ROM select and > see what the last opcode executed from ROM was - if it was RTS or > RTI I would strongly suspect a RAM problem. It might also be a jump > indirect (same suspicion). As above, look at the code contained at > this address and see it if "makes sense" as a valid place to be > executing. > > > With a decent scope you can get several fetches on the screen, and > therefore determine the opcode/address for the last few instructions > executed - If you can't get any of that to make sense, try single- > shot trigger and capture the first few instructons executed - see if > they make sense and match the ROM. > > With a bit of poking around you should be able to determine what the > processor is doing at the time it went insane - hopefully at some point > the "ah-ha" light will go on. > > Regards, > Dave > > -- > dave06a (at) Dave Dunfield > dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com > com Collector of vintage computing equipment: > http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/index.html > > > ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 21:01:27 -0700 From: dwight elvey <dkelvey at hotmail.com> Subject: RE: Introduction To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <BAY138-W40430C54E60BC3EB282BEFA3B90 at phx.gbl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" > From: roger.holmes at microspot.co.uk > Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 21:09:13 +0100 > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: Introduction > > > On 30 May, 2008, at 18:00, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > >> >> Message: 9 >> Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 17:11:02 +0200 >> From: Oliver Lehmann >> Subject: Introduction >> To: Classic Computers Mailing List > > Welcome Oliver. > > >> The system runs a Z8001 with 3 MMUs and Z80-peripherial ICs (PIO, >> SIO...) >> It also has 2 SIOs for 4 terminal connections, and one PIO to >> connect the >> WDC. The system also has two furhter PIO chips to establish a >> connection >> to the 8Bit system. The system runs with up to 4MB of DRAM but it >> might >> run with more RAM with self-made RAM modules. > > ---snip--- > > When I retire I might get around to getting myself a Z8001 system if > there's any still around by then. I am kept busy at work programming > Apple Macs and at home restoring a 1962 mainframe computer (ICT 1301) > and restoring/maintaining my old cars (2 Daimlers, 2 Rovers, a Land > Rover, a Jaguar and a BMW). > Hi One can still get a Olivetti M20 but mose I've seen come up on the Italian eBay. These don't have a MMU but instead use a ROM to decode segements. It is limited to 512K of RAM. It does have one segement where the data and instruction are mapped to two different physical memories, giving a total of 128K within one segement. The M20 can run the version of CP/M that DRI came up with. It has a C compilers as well asn an assembler. It can also have a hard disk connected but the original controllers are hard to find. It is software compatable with the WD1000 controller. I use a TRS80 controller and a ST251 drive. I did need to modify the code to deal with stepping differences between the original olivetti drive and the ST251. I just use the auto stepping. Dwight _________________________________________________________________ Give to a good cause with every e-mail. Join the im Initiative from Microsoft. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?souce=EML_WL_ GoodCause ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 22:44:26 -0700 From: Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> Subject: Re: DEC Brochures - already scanned? To: classiccmp at classiccmp.org Message-ID: <4840E5BA.1040005 at bitsavers.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > Wow, that must have been a brutal scanning job. Paper cutter and a sheet feeder. Biggest challenge was dealing with thin paper. I've switched to a different brand of scanner that can handle it better now to deal with the data books. ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 23:34:33 -0700 From: "Geoff Reed" <geoffr at zipcon.net> Subject: RE: Tandy (Radio Shack) 6000 rescue To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <078801c8c2e8$63aea410$6a01a8c0 at liberator> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" I still miss my tandy 6000 I had several years ago... very nice box as long as you had spare HDD's for the external storage unit. ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 08:41:27 +0200 From: Oliver Lehmann <lehmann at ans-netz.de> Subject: Re: Introduction To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Message-ID: <20080531084127.dfbaf4a6.lehmann at ans-netz.de> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII dwight elvey wrote: > It is software compatable with the WD1000 controller. I use > a TRS80 controller and a ST251 drive. I did need to modify > the code to deal with stepping differences between the original > olivetti drive and the ST251. I just use the auto stepping. > Dwight Can you tell me a bit more about this? I can connect MFM drives to my WDC too but I've problems with ST251-1 while ST251-0 are working. I think that the -1 is probably somewhat different then the -0 but I'm not sure where to look at in the WDC firmware (source is 86K) for what to change... http://pofo.de/P8000/misc/sources/EAW/Firmware/Firmware_-_MON16-WDC/WDC/wdc. firm.s I can switch something in the firmware from 40MHz to 41,4MHz but neither this helps nor do I know what this means.... -- Oliver Lehmann http://www.pofo.de/ http://wishlist.ans-netz.de/ ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 13:00:15 +0200 From: Oliver Lehmann <lehmann at ans-netz.de> Subject: C <-> ASM translation problem To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Message-ID: <20080531130015.2f61d66d.lehmann at ans-netz.de> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Hi, As I promissed here comes my first question ;) While writing several C files for the WEGA/ZEUS kernel out of the disassembled objects (with unresolved symbols marked as external) I came across a piece of code I can't get to reproduce when compiling C. The original object contains: 0006de: 35a2 0004 ldl rr2,rr10(#$0004) 0006e2: 9424 ldl rr4,rr2 0006e4: 0704 7f00 and r4,#$7f00 0006e8: 5d04 8000 0004 ldl $8000+$0x4,rr4 I tried to reproduce it: ipc.ip_addr.l = *(unsigned long)(uap->addr.l)&0x7F00FFFF; Which generates: 0008 35a2 0004 59 ldl rr2,rr10(#4) 000c 0702 7f00 60 and r2,#32512 0010 5d02 8000* 61 ldl _ipc+4,rr2 0014 0004* which looks for me functional the same... I also tried: ipc.ip_addr.l = *(unsigned long *)(uap->addr.l)&0x7F00FFFF; Which generates: 0010 35a2 0004 60 ldl rr2,rr10(#4) 0014 1424 61 ldl rr4, at rr2 0016 0704 7f00 62 and r4,#32512 001a 5d04 8000* 63 ldl _ipc+4,rr4 Which looks "better" but isn't the same as the original because the adress of rr2 gets loaded into rr4 first, not rr2 itself. I'm a bit lost because I tried several different */&-pointer stuff to get this as it is in the original object without success. the elements ip_addr and addr are both of type saddr_t which is declare as follows: typedef union { caddr_t l; struct { unsigned left; unsigned right; } half; } saddr_t; /* segmented address with parts */ rr4 itself gets later overwritten in both codes - my code and the original object - it is not reserved for an internal C-variable. Maybe someone from you can help me here? -- Oliver Lehmann http://www.pofo.de/ http://wishlist.ans-netz.de/ ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 07:49:45 -0400 (EDT) From: schwepes at moog.netaxs.com Subject: Wang the Perverted To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.58.0805310740230.15648 at moog.netaxs.com> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII My name is Bob and this is my first post. What caused me to join this discussion group was a wang computer that came into my possession that had two 5 1/4 diskette drives, one internal and the other external. It seemed to require its own peculiar start up disk and I suspect it would have to be a formatted 160 or 180 kbit job. Finding out information on this thing only seemed to lead to dead ends. I cannot get greater specifics as I stored the thing in an inconvenient place when I took it off the workbench. respectfully bob schwier ------------------------------ Message: 8 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 14:12:56 +0100 From: "Ade Vickers" <javickers at solutionengineers.com> Subject: RE: Transformer repairs To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <045701c8c320$0ae50490$0b01a8c0 at solutionengineers.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1250" Tony Duell wrote: > > OK, let's talk failures ;) If you've got any links which give a > > sensible description of how a switcher works, I'd be most grateful. > > I don;'t know of any useful on-line info. There's a pretty > poor article in this month's Elektor magazine (which might > give you some idea), and there's a reasonable description in > the _second edition_ of The Art of Electronics (a book which > you ought to have anyway...) I have the AofE 2nd edn (I think it's 2nd edn, anyway), I'll take a look. Cheers, Ade. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.24.2 - Release Date: 28/05/2008 00:00 ------------------------------ Message: 9 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 09:18:31 -0400 From: "Andrew Lynch" <lynchaj at yahoo.com> Subject: Thanks! RE:XT Diagnostic ROM and POSTcard To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <000001c8c320$d2ac34d0$a903a8c0 at andrewdesktop> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi All, I just wanted to say "Thank you" to everyone who helped me fix this classic IBM XT motherboard with the Diagnostic ROM image and the settings for the AWARD POSTcard. Long story short, I replaced a 74LS245 and a faulty DRAM chip and now the board boots fine. Of course half the fun is finding what actually works, what doesn't, what appears to be broken but actually works, what is broken but appears to be working, etc. You know the drill, I am sure. Fixing an old broken 16 bit VGA card which works in an 8 bit ISA slot helped a lot. As did the old style PC/XT style floppy drive controller... So anyway, it's fixed and I booted MS-DOS 5.0 and the Advanced IBM Diagnostics from a 5.25" floppy disk drive. So I think we are there. THANKS! Andrew Lynch PS, BTW the XT Diagnostic ROM image seems to work best when burned into a 2764 EPROM. I tried various other types of EPROM but the 2764 seems to work best. I think IBM did some weird remapping of their custom Mask BIOS ROM... ------------------------------ Message: 10 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 09:44:56 -0500 From: Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> Subject: Re: Thanks! RE:XT Diagnostic ROM and POSTcard To: General at mail.mobygames.com, "Discussion at mail.mobygames.com":On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <48416468.5090300 at oldskool.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Andrew Lynch wrote: > Long story short, I replaced a 74LS245 and a faulty DRAM chip and now the > board boots fine. The DRAM I could probably figure out myself, but how did you determine the 74LS245 was at fault? (I, too, have a 5150 that won't boot) -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/ ------------------------------ Message: 11 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 07:45:00 -0700 From: dwight elvey <dkelvey at hotmail.com> Subject: RE: Introduction To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <BAY138-W24D5E879AF7B158451474FA3B90 at phx.gbl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Hi My German isn't that good. If the step rate is the problem, I did see a couple routines that were creating steps. One was RAMP. Setting the controllers step rate is always done on just one port. I forget which. All you should really need to do is find all the out's to that port and set the step to the auto rate. For my code, it was only in two places. Dwight > From: lehmann at ans-netz.de > > dwight elvey wrote: > >> It is software compatable with the WD1000 controller. I use >> a TRS80 controller and a ST251 drive. I did need to modify >> the code to deal with stepping differences between the original >> olivetti drive and the ST251. I just use the auto stepping. >> Dwight > > Can you tell me a bit more about this? I can connect MFM drives to my WDC > too but I've problems with ST251-1 while ST251-0 are working. I think > that the -1 is probably somewhat different then the -0 but I'm not sure > where to look at in the WDC firmware (source is 86K) for what to > change... > http://pofo.de/P8000/misc/sources/EAW/Firmware/Firmware_-_MON16-WDC/WDC/wdc. firm.s > > I can switch something in the firmware from 40MHz to 41,4MHz but neither > this helps nor do I know what this means.... > > -- > Oliver Lehmann > http://www.pofo.de/ > http://wishlist.ans-netz.de/ _________________________________________________________________ Give to a good cause with every e-mail. Join the im Initiative from Microsoft. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?souce=EML_WL_ GoodCause ------------------------------ Message: 12 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 09:57:15 -0500 From: Jim Battle <frustum at pacbell.net> Subject: Re: Wang the Perverted To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <4841674B.6090709 at pacbell.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed schwepes at moog.netaxs.com wrote: > My name is Bob and this is my first post. > What caused me to join this discussion group was a wang computer that > came into my possession that had two 5 1/4 diskette drives, one > internal and the other external. > It seemed to require its own peculiar start up disk and I suspect it > would have to be a formatted 160 or 180 kbit job. > Finding out information on this thing only seemed to lead to dead ends. > I cannot get greater specifics as I stored the thing in an inconvenient > place when I took it off the workbench. > respectfully > bob schwier > > > Bob, Wang made many different computers of the course of three decades. Can you say which one you are talking about? Or some information that might help narrow it down? ------------------------------ Message: 13 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 11:17:47 -0400 From: "Roy J. Tellason" <rtellason at verizon.net> Subject: Re: Wang the Perverted To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <200805311117.47464.rtellason at verizon.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 On Saturday 31 May 2008 10:57, Jim Battle wrote: > schwepes at moog.netaxs.com wrote: > > My name is Bob and this is my first post. > > What caused me to join this discussion group was a wang computer that > > came into my possession that had two 5 1/4 diskette drives, one > > internal and the other external. > > It seemed to require its own peculiar start up disk and I suspect it > > would have to be a formatted 160 or 180 kbit job. > > Finding out information on this thing only seemed to lead to dead ends. > > I cannot get greater specifics as I stored the thing in an inconvenient > > place when I took it off the workbench. > > respectfully > > bob schwier > > Bob, > > Wang made many different computers of the course of three decades. Can > you say which one you are talking about? Or some information that might > help narrow it down? Those disk formats sound like their "PC" with single-sided drives, 8 or 9 sectors / track offhand... -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin ------------------------------ Message: 14 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 17:32:36 +0200 From: "Peter" <peter.lofstedt at bahnhof.se> Subject: Synertek KTM-3/80 -- 2 questions To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <000001c8c333$8dbecfa0$0300a8c0 at HemPC> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello I have an KTM-3 with power module, thermo printer and floppy drive. How can I come in touch with people that are interested in this classic hardware? Kind Regards Peter Lofstedt Home +46 243 60655 Cell +46 70 6368475 Peter.lofstedt at ericsson.com ------------------------------ Message: 15 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 09:15:45 -0700 From: dwight elvey <dkelvey at hotmail.com> Subject: RE: Transformer repairs To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <BAY138-W24BE1707FABC9FD2B0BBBBA3B90 at phx.gbl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" > From: dkelvey at hotmail.com > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 20:47:47 -0700 > Subject: RE: Transformer repairs > > > > > >> From: javickers at solutionengineers.com > ---snip some --- >> >> My apologies - I previously stated that all T's were fed from the same AC >> input, but that's wrong. Mea culpa, my memory is rapidly fading, and I was >> going from memory... >> >> You can probably follow things from the schematic better than I can from the >> circuit board, however: >> >> The T3 transformer is fed via Q1 from one side of C7. I'm guessing that Q1 >> is what's generating the pulses? > > Hi Ade > No, Q1 is on the secondary side of T3, not the primary. IC1 generates > the pulse that go through T3 and cause Q1 to turn on for the short pulses. > I'll try to walk you through how this particular supply works. > > ---snip-- some more >> >> Can remove T1 from the board & conduct an isolated test? If I connect a 9v >> battery (with a lightbulb in series, say) across the primary, would I expect >> to see a pulse of some kind come out of the secondary if it is working >> properly? > > It is unlikely that you'd see anything more than a small spike on a scope > The T1 seems to have about a 100:1 ratio or more. Oops! should have said 10:1 or more. Dwight > > Let me try to describe how this supply works. This should help you fix it. > > First, T2 provides power to IC1. IC1 monitors the 12 volts out through > R14, VR2 and R12 network. If it is more than 12 volts, IC1 will sorten > the pulse on time to T3. If the voltage is too low it will increase the pulse > width. > The other components around IC1 provide time constants for the pulse > frequency and filter of response time of the regulation. IC1 also has > a current monitor that looks at R11. If the voltage across R11 is too > high it will turn on a circuit to stop the pulses to T3. > Now, lets look at the high voltage side. As Tony has stated, you can't see > much on a scope because of the fact that everything is following the ac input. > Where you'd want to connect the ground would blow a fuse, unless you > ran differential or as I suggested, use an isolation transformer. > First the input AC goes through the filter network of L1 and some capacitors. > It then goes through a full wave rectifier, causing a DC voltage to be developed > on C7. You should measure this voltage with an ungrounded meter. You should > see about 300volts across C7. If not, something is open in the input circuits. > If, as you say, you see pulses on T3's primary side, it must be in the bridge > rectifier is open. The voltages measured relative to ground have little meaning. > T3's secondary is connected to the emitter and base of Q1. The pulse > will cause Q1 to turn on for a short time. Since this is a short pulse,T1's > secondary will see a voltage spike as well. > This will forward bias the leg of D6 from the transformer to L2, charging > C14. When the pulse is gone on T3's output, Q1 turns off. This turns > the top leg of D6 off. > Because some energy is now stored in L2, the bottom leg of D6 will > now conduct, further charging C14. It is this voltage that feeds back to > IC1 to change the pulse width going to T3 and on to Q1. > This completes the 12 volt part of the supply. > The 5 volt output is completely supplied from the 12 volt line. If there is > no 12 volts, there is no 5 volts. > The 12 volts powers IC2 that sets the regulation of the 5 volt output. > It is directly connected to the transistors that switch the DC from the > 12 volt line to the 5 volt. > IC2 turns on Q4 and Q3 for a short amount of time. This causes > current to flow in L5 and charge C21. When IC2 turns off Q4 and Q3, > L5 will still have some stored energy, causing D7 bto conduct, further > charging C21. > IC2 monitors the voltage and adjust the pulse width to keep the > output at 5V, in the same way as IC1 did. > Besides testing the voltage across C7, as I suggested earlier ( being > very careful not to electricute one self, you might also unsolder Q1 and > see if it is shorted. > This supply is also unique in that the 5 volt part runs from the 12 volt > side. It would be possible to connect a 12 volt bench supply to the > 12 volt output leads ( with the mains not connected ) and see if the > 5 volt output works OK. > That is all I have for now. > Dwight > > _________________________________________________________________ > Change the world with e-mail. Join the im Initiative from Microsoft. > http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?source=EML_WL_ChangeWorld _________________________________________________________________ Give to a good cause with every e-mail. Join the im Initiative from Microsoft. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?souce=EML_WL_ GoodCause ------------------------------ Message: 16 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 11:13:21 -0700 From: "Bob Armstrong" <bob at jfcl.com> Subject: Old style DEC 5-1/4" "pop panel" needed (will trade for 10 1/2") To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <004101c8c34a$0290a810$07b1f830$@com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I need a DEC, old style, "pop panel" blank rack panel that's 5 1/4" high. I'd be happy to trade for a 10 1/2" pop panel if that helps anybody (heck, I'll trade for two - I've got several of the 10 1/2 panels). Thanks, Bob Armstrong ------------------------------ Message: 17 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 15:49:11 -0400 From: "Andrew Lynch" <lynchaj at yahoo.com> Subject: RE: Thanks! REXT Diagnostic ROM and POSTcard To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <008b01c8c357$65d30b40$a903a8c0 at andrewdesktop> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Andrew Lynch wrote: > Long story short, I replaced a 74LS245 and a faulty DRAM chip and now the > board boots fine. The DRAM I could probably figure out myself, but how did you determine the 74LS245 was at fault? (I, too, have a 5150 that won't boot) -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk> ) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/ -----REPLY----- Hi, The old fashioned way; I used an oscilloscope to compare the inputs and outputs of the bus transceiver. One of the buffers was dead and all of the outputs on one side looked "funny" so I desoldered it and replaced it with a new one. Of course, the IBM PC/XT motherboards have few sockets so desoldering and replacing the chip was awful. I tried to nicely desolder it but ended up destroying the chip and cutting it out. One thing I really like about VG, NorthStar, Kaypro, and Heath is almost their entire motherboards are socketed. Yes, I know direct soldered chips are technically more reliable but they are a PITA to replace when they do fail. Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch ------------------------------ Message: 18 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 13:13:41 -0700 (PDT) From: David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> Subject: video game cartridges To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.55.0805311312100.3718 at helios.cs.csubak.edu> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I know that some of you here have an interest in vintage video games. How many of you would be interested in getting together a pool to make new Atari 2600 and Vectrex cartridge cases? -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu 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? ------------------------------ Message: 19 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 13:28:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Chris M <chrism3667 at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: video game cartridges To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <913257.48853.qm at web65511.mail.ac4.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 how would you intend to do this? You'll need someone to machine a die, and subsequently someone to do the injection molding. It's not rocket science (although I've never done it). But I'm not volunteering... Dies are very expensive by the way. --- David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote: > > I know that some of you here have an interest in > vintage video games. How > many of you would be interested in getting together > a pool to make new > Atari 2600 and Vectrex cartridge cases? > > -- > David Griffith > dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu > > 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? > ------------------------------ Message: 20 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 13:36:53 -0700 (PDT) From: Mr Ian Primus <ian_primus at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: video game cartridges To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <601034.32883.qm at web52702.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- On Sat, 5/31/08, David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote: > I know that some of you here have an interest in vintage > video games. How > many of you would be interested in getting together a pool > to make new > Atari 2600 and Vectrex cartridge cases? I've made up many Atari 2600 cartridges, and I've never had a hard time finding used carts to recycle for the casing. There are enough Pac-Man, ET, and Space Invaders cartridges out there for decades of homemade carts. Besides, even if you had new cart cases made up, you'd still need the boards >from used carts anyway. Unless, of course, someone makes those again too. Vectrex, on the other hand, is a different beast. Not a lot of Vectrex carts out there. Now, if you make up cases for those - I'll buy some - provided that someone sends me a Vectrex, that is... <grin> -Ian ------------------------------ Message: 21 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 13:37:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Mr Ian Primus <ian_primus at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: video game cartridges To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <861748.41180.qm at web52711.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- On Sat, 5/31/08, David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote: > I know that some of you here have an interest in vintage > video games. How > many of you would be interested in getting together a pool > to make new > Atari 2600 and Vectrex cartridge cases? I've made up many Atari 2600 cartridges, and I've never had a hard time finding used carts to recycle for the casing. There are enough Pac-Man, ET, and Space Invaders cartridges out there for decades of homemade carts. Besides, even if you had new cart cases made up, you'd still need the boards >from used carts anyway. Unless, of course, someone makes those again too. Vectrex, on the other hand, is a different beast. Not a lot of Vectrex carts out there. Now, if you make up cases for those - I'll buy some - provided that someone sends me a Vectrex, that is... <grin> -Ian ------------------------------ Message: 22 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 13:43:30 -0700 (PDT) From: David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> Subject: Re: video game cartridges To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.55.0805311339590.3718 at helios.cs.csubak.edu> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Sat, 31 May 2008, Mr Ian Primus wrote: > --- On Sat, 5/31/08, David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> wrote: > > > I know that some of you here have an interest in vintage video games. > > How many of you would be interested in getting together a pool to make > > new Atari 2600 and Vectrex cartridge cases? > > I've made up many Atari 2600 cartridges, and I've never had a hard time > finding used carts to recycle for the casing. There are enough Pac-Man, > ET, and Space Invaders cartridges out there for decades of homemade > carts. Besides, even if you had new cart cases made up, you'd still need > the boards from used carts anyway. Unless, of course, someone makes > those again too. Atariage.com sells various types of PCBs for the 2600, 5200, 8-bit, and Coleco > Vectrex, on the other hand, is a different beast. Not a lot of Vectrex > carts out there. Now, if you make up cases for those - I'll buy some - > provided that someone sends me a Vectrex, that is... <grin> The Vectrex consoles themselves aren't that hard to find. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu 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? ------------------------------ Message: 23 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 14:01:46 -0700 From: Josh Dersch <derschjo at msu.edu> Subject: Good Composite->VGA converters for classic computers (& video games...) To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <4841BCBA.1070109 at msu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Anyone out there use a composite->VGA upscaler for their classic computing and/or gaming needs? I've been looking to shave a bit of space off my workbench and just use a single SVGA monitor instead of that and an old composite monitor. I picked up one of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XXZQWQ and while it works great for certain systems (the C64 and NES, for example) it gets really confused by the composite signal coming from other systems (like the Apple II and Sega Genesis) and is unusable with them. Anyone have any recommendations? Thanks, Josh ------------------------------ Message: 24 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 23:07:53 +0200 From: "Enrico Lazzerini" <elazzerini at interfree.it> Subject: Big Board I: micro cornucopia & user disk To: <cctech at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <4818CE87016296C3 at jack.mail.tiscali.sys> (added by postmaster at tiscali.it) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi at all, i'm looking for all articles and software for the big board I. ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Big_Board> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Big_Board) There was a magazine called Micro Cornucopia ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Cornucopia> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Cornucopia) Some issues are scannered here below: <http://www.aceware.iinet.net.au/acms/BooksByManufacturerList.asp?lngManufac turerId=980&strManufacturerDescription=Micro+Cornucopia> http://www.aceware.iinet.net.au/acms/BooksByManufacturerList.asp?lngManufact urerId=980&strManufacturerDescription=Micro+Cornucopia The issues i'm looking for are from the 1st to the 22th. There was also an DRI Archive of the Big Board user disk. I'm looking from the #1 to the #20. They contain sw utilities bios lists and all about this OLD SBC. I thanks to all would be help to rebuild all info around this board. Enrico - Pisa - Italy ------------------------------ Message: 25 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 20:04:48 -0500 From: "Jason T" <silent700 at gmail.com> Subject: Come Work at Bell Labs! To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <51ea77730805311804p2f484f8ax68e70637697458ce at mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Some great shots of old terminals and other mysteries of the Labs here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHBHEWyZ1Xw What are the terminals Greg Chesson is using around the 2:30 mark? ------------------------------ Message: 26 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 23:09:30 -0400 From: "Teo Zenios" <teoz at neo.rr.com> Subject: OS/2 problems To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <002e01c8c394$e91c20d0$c600a8c0 at game> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Anybody happen to have disks for OS/2 2.1? I tried installing it today on my PS/2 65SX and disk #8 is bad. not sure if anything past that is good or not. Also I tried installing OS/2 1.1EE onto the same machine but fdisk could not find any drives. Since that machine is SCSI does OS/2 expect ESDI drives? TZ ------------------------------ Message: 27 Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 23:55:59 -0400 From: "Teo Zenios" <teoz at neo.rr.com> Subject: Re: OS/2 problems To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <004601c8c39b$69c9a8f0$c600a8c0 at game> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=response ----- Original Message ----- From: "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh at aracnet.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 11:38 PM Subject: Re: OS/2 problems > At 11:09 PM -0400 5/31/08, Teo Zenios wrote: >>Anybody happen to have disks for OS/2 2.1? I tried installing it today on >>my PS/2 65SX and disk #8 is bad. not sure if anything past that is good or >>not. >> >>Also I tried installing OS/2 1.1EE onto the same machine but fdisk could >>not find any drives. Since that machine is SCSI does OS/2 expect ESDI >>drives? > > More likely MFM or IDE, I've never run 1.1EE, however, I ran 1.3 on an IDE > drive. Which is older, OS/2 1.1EE or the PS/2 65SX? > 1.1EE is a year or two older then the 65SX. Just seems odd DOS FDISK had no issues finding and formatting the drive but 1.1EE kept giving me errors. End of cctech Digest, Vol 58, Issue 2 *************************************

17 years, 10 months

OS/2 problems

by cclist＠sydex.com

Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 23:09:30 -0400 From: "Teo Zenios" > Anybody happen to have disks for OS/2 2.1? I tried installing it today on > my PS/2 65SX and disk #8 is bad. not sure if anything past that is good or > not. I've got 'em. 3.5" only, though, so if you need 5.25" versions, you're on your own. I also have some CSD updates for it. Email me with an email that will accept large attachments and I'll get what you need to you. o I tried installing OS/2 1.1EE onto the same machine but fdisk could > not find any drives. Since that machine is SCSI does OS/2 expect ESDI > drives? If you've got MFM, IDE or ESDI, it's all the same to OS/2 (the basic port-level interface is close enough to be inter-operable for OS/2). You can even use SCSI, as long as there's an INT 13 BIOS extension installed to access it, but you have to add the driver for the SCSI controller to your boot diskettes (I've got a 386 running OS/2 2.1 with a DTC 3280 SCSI board). I also have the developer's kit for OS/2 2.x, which, with the CSDs comes to a lot of diskettes, not to mention the pile of documentation. Also MASM and MSC for OS/2. What I don't have is the network version of OS/2 2.x. Does anyone have that one? Cheers, Chuck

17 years, 10 months

Looking for PDP 11/40 Docs for M7856, 7891, or M9312

by billdeg＠degnanco.com

Looking for PDP 11/40 Docs for M7856, 7891, or M9312 CARD SLOT POSITIONs empty 1 -- (IF PRESENT WOULD BE USED FOR A 7239) empty 2 -- (IF PRESENT WOULD BE USED FOR A 7298) 7232 3 A-F (U WORD) 7231 4 A-F (DATA PATHS) 7233 5 A-F (IR DECODE) 7235 6 A-F (STATUS) 7236 7 A-F (TIMING) 7236 8 A-F (MEMORY MANAGER) 672A 9 D (GRANT CONT.) UNIBUS 9 A-B (RIGHT SIDE OF UNIBUS) UNIBUS 10 A-B (LEFT SIDE OF UNIBUS) M7856 10 F-C (RS232 WITH 19.2 OPTION?) G7273 11 C-D 7891 12 A-F (64k MEMORY) M9312 13 A-B (ROM CARD) 672A 13 D (GRANT CONT.) In short I have an upgraded to 64K system, the memory holds, I am attempting to interface with a terminal and need to confirm baud rate switch settings, etc. The docs on the 11/40 I have are limited to an original 8K core system. thanks. Bill

17 years, 10 months

Big Board I: micro cornucopia & user disk

by rtellason＠verizon.net

On Friday 30 May 2008 17:08, Enrico Lazzerini wrote: > Hi at all, > > i'm looking for all articles and software for the big board I. > > ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Big_Board> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Big_Board) I'm familiar with the Bigboard, it was essentially the same as the Xerox 820 (_not_ the 820-II!). > There was a magazine called Micro Cornucopia > > ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Cornucopia> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Cornucopia) I had a pretty complete set of those, but they're not currently accessible to me. > Some issues are scannered here below: > > <http://www.aceware.iinet.net.au/acms/BooksByManufacturerList.asp?lngManufa >c turerId=980&strManufacturerDescription=Micro+Cornucopia> > http://www.aceware.iinet.net.au/acms/BooksByManufacturerList.asp?lngManufac >t urerId=980&strManufacturerDescription=Micro+Cornucopia Cool. I will look at those links later... > The issues i'm looking for are from the 1st to the 22th. Sorry I can't help with that at the present time. -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin

17 years, 10 months

PET 2001-8 progress...

by derschjo＠msu.edu

So I've got my "hacked-up" PET powering up after redoing a bit of wiring on the power supply. I replaced a couple of obviously bad 74LS157's in the video generator section (legs were corroded and some had fallen off/cracked) and reflowed a couple of suspicious looking joints. The machine now powers up, the display is bright and crisp but I just get garbage characters on the display. Using my logic probe I've verified that the CPU is running, voltages appear nominal (4.9V at the CPU & RAM). The CPU seems to be running something, in that about 1-2 seconds after power up a few characters on the screen will change (not where you'd expect the COMMODORE BASIC banner to be printed, but always in the same places). Typing on the keyboard produces no effect. I've reduced the board to 4K of 2114s and tried swapping around the 2114s used for the display, but the only effect this has is to change the pattern of garbage characters displayed (interestingly (at least to me) each RAM chip produces a different pattern, which is reproducible). If I run without any video RAM installed, I just get a checkerboard pattern onscreen, which would make sense since character FF is the checkerboard tile. Unfortunately I have no idea if any of the 2114s I have are good or not, though I'd wager that they can't ALL be bad. I don't have any other machines that use them and I don't have any spares. Any suggestions on logical places to start looking from here? Thanks, Josh

17 years, 10 months

Come Work at Bell Labs!

by silent700＠gmail.com

Some great shots of old terminals and other mysteries of the Labs here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHBHEWyZ1Xw What are the terminals Greg Chesson is using around the 2:30 mark?

17 years, 10 months

Transformer repairs

by cclist＠sydex.com

> Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 11:41:15 -0400 (EDT) > From: der Mouse > It is probably possible to build a current limiter that provides > immediate visual feedback. I challenge you, or anyone for that matter, > to come up with such a design that is as cheap, easy, simple, and > foolproof as an incandescent bulb. (Well, not cheap once the ban hits, > which is the problem.) How's this? Grab a glass jar, fill with water and a salt of your choice, say, bicarbonate of soda, drop two electrodes into it (stainless steel or carbon is good; aluminum will tend to polarize after awhile and form a leaky rectifier). Apply current and watch for bubbles and/or steam. Vary resistance by varying the distance between electrodes. Or use a dill pickle instead if you like glowing pyrotechnics. We will always have appliances with heating elements floating around that can be pressed into use, particularly where higher-power loads are concerned. What I don't like about incandescents used as a load-limiter is the very low cold resistance. I'd much rather have a "soft" start--but then carbon-filament incandescents haven't been easy to find for the last 80 years or so. Cheers, Chuck

17 years, 10 months

Big Board I: micro cornucopia & user disk

by elazzerini＠interfree.it

Hi at all, i'm looking for all articles and software for the big board I. ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Big_Board> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Big_Board) There was a magazine called Micro Cornucopia ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Cornucopia> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Cornucopia) Some issues are scannered here below: <http://www.aceware.iinet.net.au/acms/BooksByManufacturerList.asp?lngManufac turerId=980&strManufacturerDescription=Micro+Cornucopia> http://www.aceware.iinet.net.au/acms/BooksByManufacturerList.asp?lngManufact urerId=980&strManufacturerDescription=Micro+Cornucopia The issues i'm looking for are from the 1st to the 22th. There was also an DRI Archive of the Big Board user disk. I'm looking from the #1 to the #20. They contain sw utilities bios lists and all about this OLD SBC. I thanks to all would be help to rebuild all info around this board. Enrico - Pisa - Italy

17 years, 10 months

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