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101090 discussions

kernel compile times (was: SGI workstation sequence)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: kernel compile times (was: SGI workstation sequence) > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:01:02 +1300 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 10/24/07, Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote: >> >> In article <471E85C0.4050703 at gmail.com>, >> Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com> writes: >> >> > My compile on the VAXstation 2000 was at least a few days. Maybe a week. >> >> Are we talking *just* the kernel here, or are we talking compiling a >> full distribution (all the utility programs, shell programs, X server, >> X clients, etc.). >> >> I have a really hard time believing it takes a few days *just* to >> compile the kernel. Toss in the huge pile of additional programs >> accessible from the shell or the X Window System and now we're talking >> believable. > >Sridhar can answer for the details of his VS2000, but in my case, the >two machines I have the most experience with are the 11/750 and >11/730, and Ultrix 1.1 (4.2BSD under the hood, IIRC). It may be that >I didn't do a complete compile from source, just a kernel rebuild of >drivers and affected areas from the installation process, and it may >be that the disk on a VS2000 is vastly slower than Unibus and IDC >disks on the 11/750 and 11/730, respectively. I do stand by my 8-10 >hour kernel compile time after an initial install of the OS on a blank >disk for those machines - if my memories have not entirely >disintegrated, it took all of a long work day to install Ultrix, but >not more than one. Under VMS: A VS2000 that is light on ram and the page and swap files are small will be very slow, it will swap it's brains out. The differnce from a 6MB untuned and 12MB or more machine that is tuned without Decwindows running is far more than one might imagine. I managed to hack one for two RD54s (using a second box under it) and put the page and swap on the second drive and it does help. A base Ultrix install from TK50 was slow but it seems the TK50 was as much to blame for that. If memory serves you could get to 14MB in a VS2000 IF you can get the right card. Allison > >-ethan

18 years, 6 months

5-1/4 diskette drive on current computers

by dm561＠torfree.net

Message: 24 Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:59:13 -0700 From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> Subject: Re: 5-1/4 diskette drive on current computers <snip> >Anent the configuration situation and a related thread, there are >chipsets that also allow interfacing a floppy via the parallel port >with suitable configuration. But again, your BIOS is going to be a >problem for this if you're using a "modern" Windoze OS. <snip> >Cheers, >Chuck ----------- Nevertheless, in light of the amount of misinformation about the subject (apparently even on the MS site) it might be worth mentioning again that at least XP does not have any problems with any of the standard floppy formats (although all except 3.5HD require formatting from a CLI), and that the restrictions, if any, are in the modern BIOSs and mobo hardware no matter how modern (or not) the OS may be. mike

18 years, 6 months

Genuine DEC H8571-J MMJ adapters available

by Krieg.Moore＠dgs.ca.gov

Hi, We have ancient system that I'm switching over from VT340 to PC's running a terminal emulator - and would about (6) of the factory ones ($25.00 ea - I believe you said) do you still have 'em? Krieg Moore Electronics Technician DGS/RESD/BPM/ Capitol Historic Region/Electronics Shop

18 years, 6 months

SGI workstation sequence

by jvdg＠sparcpark.net

Ethan Dicks wrote: > I've had some interest, off and on, of fiddling with some SGI > hardware. I really wanted an Indy when they came out, but couldn't > come close to affording it (I ended up buying a SPARC 1 for $800 the > following year, and many, many job opportunities and good things came > from that). I did get to fiddle with an Indigo^2 in the mid-1990s, > during the Virtual Reality bubble, but couldn't afford one of those at > the time, either. I know the feeling. I remember reading the Byte review of the Indy in 1993... I wanted one SO badly. Couldn't justify the price of several thousand dollars back then, though. I was a student at the time, and I had two classrooms full of Suns at my disposal (SPARCclassic and SPARCstation LX). I did buy an Indy about ten years ago, though. Still paid the equivalent of about a thousand dollars for it. Seeing what they go for these days ($0 - $25) kinda hurts... > I had the chance to pick up a discarded Indy about 4 years ago, but by > the time I returned with wheels, someone else had carted it away. > Given the descendent machines in the family tree in this thread, I'm > beginning to wonder if I shouldn't go after an Octane or an O2 rather > than an Indigo or an Indy, at least if I wanted to do more than take > the demo programs for a spin. > > So for the more experienced SGI folks - do you feel that an Indy or > Indigo is responsive enough to be reasonable to use, or is it worth > holding out for something newer and most likely more expensive to > acquire? Also, something I don't know much about, do the older > personal graphic workstations use odd or impossible-to-find memory, or > are they easy/cheap to load up? O2 is cheap enough these days that I'd recommend it as the minimum config to get. And go for the R10K models, too. Even Octanes can be had cheap enough to be considered for just playing around. You gan a lot of expandibility whan going for one of those. Although they are significantly bigger, hotter and noisier. Then again, some might consider that a plus. ;-) Indies are nice to just have, make pretty decent servers, too, but I wouldn't buy an Indy today for workstation use. ,xtG tsooJ

18 years, 6 months

SGI workstation sequence

by jvdg＠sparcpark.net

Pete Turnbull wrote: > The fastest official O2 (I think) is R12000 400Mhz, but there was a DIY > RM7000 600MHz upgrade for 300MHz R5ks. Yeah, that's something to bear in mind; SGI workstations have a plethora of CPU options, so they were available in many configuration from cheap budget machines to high end number crunchers. The Fastest O2's are O2+'s, but they're really only different in the case colour (purple vs. blue) and the logo (Cube vs. that weird-ass script logo). The R5K O2's can sport anything from R5000PC180 to R7000SC350, the R10K model can be equipped with R10000SC150 through R120000SC400. Unlike Indigo2, however, a different class CPU on an O2 means a different motherboard. ,xtG tsooJ

18 years, 6 months

IBM junk

by Arno_1983＠gmx.de

ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote: > > > > The 5182 is a dot matrix printer with a four color ribbon. Kludge on a > > stick. > Thet idea was not uncommn at the time. DEC made one called the 'LA324' > which could take a colour ribbon and mechanically shifted it up and down > to change colour. I also rememebr using an Epson printer in the mid > 1980s that could take a 'colour kit' which was a motor + mechanical bits > to tilt the ribbon. The NEC CP6 and CP7 printers (colour variants of the P6/P7) also used such an arrangement - wheels sliding along profiled shafts and small toothed belts to change the height of the ribbon guide on the printer carriage by means of a stepper motor mounted on the chassis. I had the "fun" of repairing a broken guide bridge on mine (had to fit a reinforcement under the crack and reassure it didn't bind or collide with anything). So long, -- Arno Kletzander Stud. Hilfskraft Informatik Sammlung Erlangen www.iser.uni-erlangen.de GMX FreeMail: 1 GB Postfach, 5 E-Mail-Adressen, 10 Free SMS. Alle Infos und kostenlose Anmeldung: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/freemail

18 years, 6 months

Colour dot matrix printers (was IBM junk)

by dm561＠torfree.net

>Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:17:58 -0400 >From: Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com> >Subject: Re: IBM junk To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <471D3DB6.4030803 at gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed >Gordon JC Pearce wrote: >> On Sun, 2007-10-21 at 22:19 -0400, William Donzelli wrote: >> >> The 5182 is a dot matrix printer with a four color ribbon. Kludge on a stick. >> >> I have a printer (possibly Seikosha?) with a CMYK ribbon and 24-pin >> head. The printout from it is surprisingly good. >Wasn't there also the Okidata ML395C with a similar setup? >Peace... Sridhar ------------------------- Citizen as well; in fact I still have some colour conversion kits (print head and ribbon) for the MSP and HSP if anybody wants one. m

18 years, 6 months

Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface

by dm561＠torfree.net

>Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:24:10 -0700 (PDT) >From: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> >Subject: Re: Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface >On Mon, 22 Oct 2007, M H Stein wrote: >> Ummm... not entirely facetiously: I've got some bubble memory cartridges >> (MS-DOS) that I wouldn't mind archiving... >Which format? >I may still have some Gavilan ones. -------------------- Sharp PC5000; mostly the customized apps like WordStar, SuperCalc, etc. Guess I could pull them off through the comm app somehow though; haven't looked at it for a while & don't recall whether I can xfer binary files that way. m

18 years, 6 months

IBM junk

by dm561＠torfree.net

>Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:20:30 -0400 >From: Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com> >Subject: Re: IBM junk >SUPRDAVE at aol.com wrote: >> BTW, if the hard drive fails, you might be in trouble. If memory >> serves, the N51SX uses a 2.5" ESDI (!) drive. >> >> The Thinkpad 700 also uses an ESDI drive. >Indeed. Another problem machine for that reason. >Peace... Sridhar ----------------- Good news! That means mine have some value after all... m

18 years, 6 months

Baydel S11 anyone ?

by jos.mar＠bluewin.ch

Does anybody here have a Baydel S11 ( a PDP-11 clone ) ? Ideally with a few spare disc packs .... Jos Dreesen

18 years, 6 months

Vintage computer photogallery - Time Magazine

by classiccmp.org＠stellar.eclipse.co.uk

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1670168_1461055,00.html

18 years, 6 months

LF: Microvax 3100 power supply technical information.

by dave06a＠dunfield.com

Hi Guys, I have a "VAXserver 3100" which afaik is the same hardware as a Microvax 3100. This unit has a bad power supply. The power supply is labled: MODEL H7822-00 Anyone have schematics or other technical information? In case anyone has run into this before - the symptoms: This supply appears to be two "mostly separate" supplies in one box. Both boards have connection to AC power. One board generates +5, -5, +12 and -12v, which is the sent via jumper wires to the second board - There it appears to be monitored by a "power good" circuit, and passes directly to the connector for the VAX mainboard, and one of the two disk drive power connectors. All of these rails look good. The second supply generates +5 and +12v which is applied only to the second disk drive power connector. This supply constantly starts and stops - with or without a load. I can see the output voltages coming on, then going off over and over. Since this supply drives only the second disk drive power connector, the system shoud come up, however it does not - I believe the reason for this is that the power monitor is either holding the system in reset, or providing a "bad power" indication which otherwise halts the system because the second drive supply voltages are not stable. The connector to the VAX mainboard looks like this (viewing end of power supply cable) -12 +5 Gnd +12 Gnd +5 [Key ] Gnd Gnd [Tab ] +5 Gnd [Here] +5 -5 ?1 ?2 The ?1 and ?2 signals appeare to be control signals. All power rails look good. With a supply borrowed >from a Vaxstation 3100 (smaller supply without the extra drive connector/supply, but same main pinout), I see 4+ volts on ?2 and some low but non-zero voltage on ?1 - with the bad supply, both ?1 and ?2 are at 0v. Can anyone tell me the names and description of function for the ?1 and ?2 signals - I'd like to know exactly what these are supposed to do as the supply comes up. Any other technical information and/or ideas would be very much appreciated. 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

18 years, 6 months

Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface > From: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> > Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:24:10 -0700 (PDT) > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On Mon, 22 Oct 2007, M H Stein wrote: >> Ummm... not entirely facetiously: I've got some bubble memory cartridges >> (MS-DOS) that I wouldn't mind archiving... > >Which format? > >I may still have some Gavilan ones. I have a bunch too save for I have two Intel BPK72 to use them in. Allison

18 years, 6 months

Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface

by dm561＠torfree.net

Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:21:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> Subject: Re: Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface > > Aside from 2", 2.5", 2.9" varieties, which additional floppy sizes would > > you like to add? >Mag cards of various types. >also flash memory, including Toshiba printer cards, Atari Portfolio memory >cards, etc. >Prob'ly oughta include a versatile ROM reader, . . . Ummm... not entirely facetiously: I've got some bubble memory cartridges (MS-DOS) that I wouldn't mind archiving... mike

18 years, 6 months

An old dream come true: Iris Indigo!

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

>> - Are the monitor frequencies suitable for a modern PC monitor? > > They aren't. It's sync-on-green, so you either need a good monitor and > you definitively need an adaptor. > The LG1 and LG2 (Entry 8-bit 2D graphics options) have DE15 VGA connectors alongside the 13W3, it isn't multisync but does do the PC-standard 1024x768. Express graphics (XS, XS-[24, 24Z], XZ, Elan) have sync-on-green 13W3 output in more resolutions (and 24-bit for XS-24 and up). > You should be able to run any MIPS based/IRIX software for SGIs. I > don't know what IRIX release you'll need; perhaps someone else can > provide that info. For the Indigo R3k (33MHz R3000/3010, which uses proprietary SIMMS in sets of 4) you'll probably want IRIX 5.3 (and you can download the development option from ftp.sgi.com for free). The other possible option would be IRIX 4.0.5F if you want to be old-school. Any other functional IRIX release will not be as satisfactory (you can't run IRIX 3.3.x on LG or Express graphics, and R3000 support was dropped in any version of IRIX 6). For the Indigo R4k you can run IRIX 6.5.22 (get any version of the IRIX 6.5 disks at 6.5.22 or earlier and you can download the overlays for free from Supportfolio at SGI), IRIX 6.2 (if it's a low-end configuration with 128MB or less of RAM this would be better), or IRIX 5.3 (which can run the older ECOFF binaries from IRIX 4). You can also run IRIX 4.0.5F if you want, but the newer the IRIX the more standard it is and the more software there is. IRIX 6.2 headers and the MIPSpro toolchain can be downloaded from ftp.sgi.com (no compilers, though), and for IRIX 6.5 the headers/toolchain is included in the CD-ROM distribution. The Indigo R4k can have either a R4000 at 100MHz (will show as 50MHz in the PROM 'hinv') or a R4400 at 150MHz (will show as 'R4000' at 75MHz in the PROM hinv). The IP20 uses parity 72-pin (36-bit) SIMMS in groups of 4. Ray wrote: > I have plugged a PC kybd/mouse into a SGI Crimson and an Octane > and they seemed to work OK. Octane, yep. Crimson, definitely not (uses a DA15 keyboard port) Onyx2, maybe- since that uses a PS/2 interface (along with Indigo2, Indy, Octane, O2 and all things newer _except_ the original Onyx. All of the SGI-proprietary keyboards/mice (apart from being very well built) use the same signalling and protocol so you can use one with plug converters to DA15 (Professional IRIS, PowerSeries, Crimson), DE-9 (Personal IRIS 4D/2x), and the Mini-DIN 6 (Personal IRIS 4D/3x, Indigo, Onyx1).

18 years, 6 months

SGI workstation sequence

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

> I think it goes like this, someone please correct me if I'm wrong: > > 1984 IRIS (terminal/workstation) These were fairly beefy desksides in the 15-slot workstation guise. I think they might have been a little earlier, at least for terminals. Bear (www.typewritten.org) has a 1984 date for version 1.3 of the IRIS terminal manuals. > 1988? Personal Iris The /2x series. The /3x series came out about the same time as Indigo. > 1990 Indigo Indigo came later-1991. R4k Indigo was in 1992. > 1992 Indigo^2 1993. It was a bit earlier than Indy, but not a whole year. > 1993 Indy > 1996 O2 > 1999 Octane Way earlier, 1997 for Octane > 2000 Octane2 Not really new, just a marketing rebadge. If you're counting this you should count Indigo2 IMPACT. > 2002 Fuel > 2003 Tezro > ASD stuff: Professional IRIS: 1986 PowerSeries: 1987 Crimson: 1992 Onyx/Challenge: 1993

18 years, 6 months

SGI workstation sequence

by legalize＠xmission.com

I think it goes like this, someone please correct me if I'm wrong: 1984 IRIS (terminal/workstation) 1988? Personal Iris 1990 Indigo 1992 Indigo^2 1993 Indy 1996 O2 1999 Octane 2000 Octane2 2002 Fuel 2003 Tezro I'm not including any of the x86 based stuff, nor any of the stuff that required a large deskside or rack cabinet. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>

18 years, 6 months

IBM junk

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

>In a message dated 10/22/2007 6:34:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ploopster at gmail.com >writes: >William Donzelli wrote: >> * Another interesting thing that he explicitly said was unique was his >> IBM Office-on-the-Go. This neat assembly puts a PS/2 N51x laptop and a >> 5183 printer in a nice Italian briefcase, with a built in power unit, >> and pockets for all sorts of extra things, like cables and printer >> cartridges. He said he was doing the test marketing, but it did not go >> anywhere. >BTW, if the hard drive fails, you might be in trouble. If memory >serves, the N51SX uses a 2.5" ESDI (!) drive. >Peace... Sridhar The Thinkpad 700 also uses an ESDI drive. ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

18 years, 6 months

IBM junk

by zmerch-cctalk＠30below.com

Rumor has it that William Donzelli may have mentioned these words: >Lots of new IBM things today, but all basically PC related. > >Does anyone here have a 5182 Color Printer? This was one of the >goodies today, from an ex-IBM salesman that was finally clearing out >the closet. He said it was a very unsuccessful product from the XT/AT >era, and may have never been for sale to the public. He said they were >probably internal use only. > >The 5182 is a dot matrix printer with a four color ribbon. Kludge on a stick. I can't verify that it was an actual "5182" but I did work with an IBM branded 9-pin DM color printer (4 color bands, yellow, blue, red & black) built like a tank (like everything from IBM of that era) on an IBM AT (512K RAM, 20G HD) back when I was 17.... so this was 23 years ago... in the dinky town of Sault Ste. Marie. So if we had one here, chances are IBM made more than one! AFAIK, the company I worked for _never_ used the color aspect of the computer, so 3/4 of the nice expensive ribbon got wasted. A quick google search shows that the 5182 was commercially available, if not 'viable': ;-) http://www.computerreset.com/images/ibm5182.jpg Which brings another ontopic response: Wholly Crap! Computer Reset is still in business? I remember when they sold peripherals for Tandy model 100s & advertised in "Deforestation Monthly." ;-) The web page lists 'em for sale for $99... but at the bottom of the page, I see this: Sale list Date 3/13/2004 Laterz, Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- Roger "Merch" Merchberger | A new truth in advertising slogan SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers | for MicroSoft: "We're not the oxy... zmerch at 30below.com | ...in oxymoron!"

18 years, 6 months

Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface dwight elvey dkelvey at hotmail.com <mailto:cctalk%40classiccmp.org?Subject=Alternative%20Hardware%20Design%20fo r%20Floppy%20Interface&In-Reply-To=000001c8133f%244fb839c0%24a903a8c0%40andr ewdesktop> Sun Oct 21 22:47:07 CDT 2007 * Previous message: Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface * Next message: Alternative Hardware Design for Floppy Interface * Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] ________________________________ [snip] Hi Most of us have older PC's that will read most standard formats. That isn't the issue. The Catweasel is the closest thing out there but it is, as Dave D. says, not open documented. [snip] Unless I were to get something like the CatWeasel, I can't read the double density hard sectored disk I currently have that I'd like to archieve. I don't know of anything else that will plug into a PC that will do the job. Dwight ________________________________ -----REPLY----- Dwight, There seems to be a lot of misinformation about the Catweasel circulation about. Hopefully this can clear some of it up. These are things I believe to be true about Catweasel: The Catweasel is well documented. The design is easy to write software for. F/OSS Linux drivers exist. F/OSS MS-DOS & Linux software exists. The Catweasel is documented at the register level. There is a developers forum available. The developer of the Catweasel is accessible and very helpful. There are experienced developers on CCTALK which can answer questions. The Catweasel is commercially available from stock in both PCI and ISA versions. I do not know for a fact, but I am confident based on my dealings with Jens that if you needed additional information about the FPGA firmware for some reason you could just ask and get what information you need. True, software development has not been integrated and is fragmented but that is mostly organizational issues. The content does exist. Here is a recent post on CCTALK which lists some of the many Catweasel resources available on the internet. (not by me but other another respected CCTALK member) http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctech/2007-April/077150.html As an aside, if it were me designing a small portable floppy reader, I would use something like to this in a small case with a 5.25" floppy drive and CF for storage: http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS6085572550.html It is only a small stretch from what I am presently using: an old PC with a Catweasel to read NorthStar (DSDD, SSDD, SSSD, and mixed) and Heath (SSSD and DSSD) hard sector disks. The Tim Mann CW2DMK software pretty much covers the soft sector format. There are many other formats supported. My whole Catweasel station cost less than $200 is working right now in my basement. It has Ethernet, PCI, USB, IDE, serial, parallel, VGA, PS/2, floppy drive interfaces in addition to the Catweasel. It can run several Operating Systems. There are still slots available to add more interfaces if you'd like. There is another machine next to it with ISA slots, a different Catweasel, and SCSI interfaces. I have had ST506/ST412 interfaces working on it. All parts for both systems are commercially available for low cost. Yes, Catweasel is restricted to PCI or ISA but if you "wrap" it with a dedicated PC you do not have to deal with it. Also, the raw format the Catweasel produces is literally magnetic flux transition times and whether an index hole is present or not. It doesn't get much more basic than than when reading a floppy disk. The hard part of ANY universal floppy reader will be the writing of the specific format decoders. That is where the investment is truly needed. My only wish for Catweasel is for it to be supported by excellent software like ImageDisk in an open and documented format like ImageDisk does. I believe the extensions to at least ImageDisk would be trivial to implement once the specifics of the interface were well known. Thanks! Andrew Lynch

18 years, 6 months

Tax Advice for kit hobby?

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Grant asks: > Is there anyone in here who is qualified to give advice on > taxes? I've made a few computer kits and am still deep into the > hole. No money made, so no profit. I want to know what to expect I > have to do for the tax man. A lot of money has changed hands with no > gains for me. I hope I don't owe anyone anything. > I've got a few more computer kits on the back burner, but its not > worth it to me to continue if there are tax implications. > Not trying to get free services, just free advice. : ) Respond off > list if you want to help a fellow vintage computer guy. I am NOT qualified, but my two cents, on the situation in the US: 1. Any money you have coming in has to be reported as income somewhere. 2. It's possible that you can report it (at least in the US) on schedule C as a sole proprietership and deduct your expenses. Just because you lost money in your first year doesn't mean it's not a "business activity". But if you don't have any hope or plan to turn it into something profit-making, it's probably a hobby. Under some circumstances hobby expenses might be itemized deductions if you itemize, but the deductions cannot exceed gross income from the hobby. This would mean for example that if you spent $10,000 on parts and expenses, but only sold $3,000 worth of stuff, that at least you won't have to pay income tax on the $3000. This area is a little hairy. There are some potentially onerous taxes associated with stocking large quanties of parts/assemblies/computers that might be of value to your business, depending on how your locality figures inventory taxes. Sitting on inventory more than a year or two can be incredibly costly if your jurisdiction has inventory taxes. IRS Publication 535 has some of the tests for whether it's a hobby or a business. Tim.

18 years, 6 months

DEC parts available

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

Last week, I picked up a load of DEC parts from a company that had recently moved off of some of their older PDP-11 equipment in a large-scale "process control" environment. I've got available two H9644 racks with BA11-K chassis in them, four more de-racked BA11-K's (all 10.5" tall, I think they all have a 9-slot unibus backplane in them - no boards other than the random G727 grand card - and I have rails for all of them). I'll probably have more parts available soon, but this is what I want to work on redistributing first. All of this is in downtown Lafayette, IN. Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

18 years, 6 months

5-1/4 diskette drive on current computers

by ballsandy＠msn.com

I see why not. I still see Intel/AMD boards that come out with support for the 5 1/4" drive but it's becoming more and more uncommon. My MSI K7N2 Delta2-LSR can support one 5 1/4" drive. I have also had success both read and writing 5 1/4" floppies on Windows XP professional also. As a matter of fact, XP was the last OS from micro$oft to include built-in support for 5 1/4" floppies. Nothing says that the die-hards won't patch Vista and bring back 5 1/4" support. _________________________________________________________________ R U Ready for Windows Live Messenger Beta 8.5? Try it today! http://entertainment.sympatico.msn.ca/WindowsLiveMessenger

18 years, 6 months

Good finds this weekend

by richardlynch3＠tx.rr.com

I went to that Nortex Electronics sale in Ft. Worth Texas this weekend, and while the vast majority of items in 3 large buildings was test and a/v equipment and parts, along with a lot of junk, I was able to ferret out a few interesting computer-related items stashed in corners. There was probably more there, but a lot was packed, stacked and inaccessible (including a couple of VAX cabinets that looked semi-parted out at a distance), and I ran out of time. Almost everything is in nice, average used condition, very presentable considering the age of some of the documents: Manuals - Teletype manuals in original blue/gray binders with cover sheets -- Parts/Model 28 Compact KSR And RO/Bulletin 1197B/July 1964 (original) -- Parts/Model 28 Page Printer Set (KSR &RO)/Bulletin 1149B/June 1965 (change 13) -- Description and Principles of Operation/Model 28 KSR and RO/Bulletin 216B/Feb 1964, change 4 - May 1971 -- Maintenance Tools/Bulletin 1124B/Feb 1962 (change 3) -- Technical Manual/High Speed Tape Punch Set (BRPE)/Bulletin 215B/March 1963 (change 4) -- Parts/Model 37 Page Printer Set (KSR-RO)/Bulletin 1209B/June 1970 (change 3) -- Technical Manual/Motor Units (MU, LMU, YMU)/Bulletin 295B/(2 versions) Jan 1967 (change 1), Feb 1973 (change 4) -- Parts/Paper Winders (LPW, PW)/Bulletin 1129B/(4 versions) Nov 1959, Mar 1966, May 1970, Dec 1970 -- Parts/33 Page Printer Set (ASR, KSR and RO)/Bulletin 1184B/Dec 1970, change 13 - Feb 1971 -- Technical Manual/33 Teletypewriter Sets (RO, KSR, ASR)/Bulletin 310B Vol 1/June 1969 (original) -- Technical Manual/33 Teletypewriter Sets (RO, KSR, ASR)/Bulletin 310B Vol 2/March 1971 (change 2) -- Technical Manual/32 and 33 Teletypewriter Sets (KSR, RO, ASR)/Bulletin 273B/Nov 1964 (change 4) - Large blue Honeywell binder with Teletype information, including several change order sheets and custom modification descriptions, along with both of the Model 33 technical manual volumes dated 1974, and the parts manual dated 1973. - Large black generic binder with several Model 32/33 manuals without cover sheets dated 1964 ? 1967 - FAA Manual 6170.6/Maintenance of Teletypewriter Terminal Equipment/June 16, 1973 - Digital VT125 User Guide/1st Edition Sept 1981 - Remex Technical Manual, Perforator System and Tape Reader/Perforator System, Models RPS612XBA, RPF612XBA/1975 - Tandon Operating and Service Manual, TM100 Disk Drives/1981 - DEC PDT-11/150 User Guide/1st edition, Feb 1979 (copy) - TI Silent 700 Model 742 Operating Instructions with Supplement/1 June 1975 - Visual 200 Video Display Terminal Reference Manual/March 1980 - TI Model 980A Computer Maintence Manual/Electrical Drawings Vol VII/15 Feb 1973 (in light blue TI plastic binder) - Pro-Log Brochure/Series 90 PROM Programmer featuring the M980 Control Unit/May 1981 - Pro-Log Series 90 PROM Programmer Operating Manual/Oct 1975 - Heathkit Manual/Microprocessor Trainer Model ET-3400/1977 (with 2 change pages) - Friden Service Operation & Adjustment Manual (Motorized Reader and Punch, Regeneration, Comparator, Regen Comparator)/Dec 13, 1962 (with schematic of Add Punch Model APT dated Nov 14, 1957) - intel MCS-85 Handbook (Preliminary)/Feb 1977 - intel 8080 Microcomputer System Manual/Jan 1975 - intel 8080 Microcomputer Systems User?s Manual/Sept 1975 - Light blue paper folder with intel logos, containing a few letters and forms (Software Problem Report and Library Submittal Form) for the Intellec 8/MOD 8 and /MOD 80, a brochure for the imm8-90 High Speed Paper Tape Reader, and two paper tapes: one labeled ?Intellec 8/MOD 8 Monitor Ver 3.0?, and another with the same wording except with additional ?Monitor Installation Tape?. One of the letters in the folder describes the intended use of the paper tapes. - Generic black binder with more intel documentation: -- Programming Manual for the 8080 Microcomputer System, Volumes 1 and 2, Preliminary Edition, May 1974 -- Intellec 8/Mod 80 Microcomputer Development System Reference Manual/no date on front, copyright 1974 on back -- 8080 Assembly Language Programming Manual/copyright 1974 on front - Lockheed-California CADAM Training Manual, in original binder, March 1980 - SD Sales Z8800 CPU Card manual/no date - Pacific Data Systems Brochure/An Introduction to the PDS 1020 Digital Computer/with survey insert addressed to the Data Systems Branch Chief of NASA/no date - Pacific Data Systems/An Engineer?s Guide to the PDS 1020/April 1964/(copies of change pages replacing originals in spots) - Pacific Data Systems/Machine Reference Handbook/April 1964 - Generic binder containing several copied Application Notes for the PDS 1020 from 1964 and 1965 - Generic binder containing a copy of summaries of software available for the PDS 1020/Feb 1965 - Generic binder containing what looks like a printout of specific PDS 1020 software program descriptions, including flowcharts and assembly language listings/no date - SYMTEC PGSIII (graphics generator for Apple II) documentation, probably incomplete, with copies of some floppies, no hardware - Saturn Systems 64K/128K RAM board Operations Manual (for Apple II)/1982 - Apple ][e Owner?s Manual/1985 - Apple Monochrome Monitor IIe Owner?s Guide Hardware - DRC 16K EPROM S100 board, unused, no EPROMs installed, with copy of manual - MITS 8K PROM S100 board, Rev 0-X2(J.D.), 1976, no EPROMs installed, with copy of schematic - small wire-wrapped, socketed board with about 20 TI TTL chips with date codes mostly in 1970, connector has 31 fingers on a side, small handwritten label says ?CNTRL (A5)? - One Apple ][ computer, no boards - Three Apple ][ Plus computers, no boards - One Apple ][e computer with 3 boards, including 1 double board of unknown use showing the name ?Collins? with 3 external cables: 25-pin(f), 37-pin(f) and 37-pin(m) - any ideas what this is? - Radio Shack TRS-80 Printer Controller (PTC-64), still in the box Books (mostly with markings showing originally from the LTV Computer Dept Technical Library) - Computer Organization and the System/370, Katzan, 1971 - System/370 Job Control Language, Brown, 1977 - Computer Graphics, Gruenberger, 1967 - The Transition to On-Line Computing, Gruenberger, 1967 - Digital Tape Drives, Taunt, 1965 - Information Processing for Management, BEMA, 1969 - The Computer and the Executive, Kanter, 1967 - IBM Electronic Circuit Analysis Program Techniques and Applications, Jensen and Lieberman, 1968 - PL/I Programming Primer, Weinberg, 1966 - VAX Architecture Reference Manual, DEC Books, 1987 - Honeywell Instrumentation Handbook, 2nd Edition, 1970, contains a couple of pages on the DDP-516 and H316, with a picture of the ?Kitchen Computer? although it?s not called that in this book Magazines - Popular Electronics -- 1975: Aug, Nov (Altair 680 on cover), Dec -- 1976: Jan, Feb (TV Dazzler on cover), Mar, Apr, Jun, Jul (SOL on cover) -- 1977: Mar - Radio Electronics April 1970 (Penniac - $150 Game Computer on cover) Software - Lot of 8? floppies, about 5 unused boxes, also several used disks with labels indicating some kind of IBM software (?EDX002?, ?ASMLIB?, others) - Xerox 6060 Family floppies and manuals Richard Lynch

18 years, 6 months

adobe machine room?

by legalize＠xmission.com

This discussion of 3-phase power and VAXen in your home and the big Amdahl machine transport has reminded me again of my desire to have some sort of controlled environment for my big SGI boxes. I have a rather large lot and I considered building a Henk style machine room on my property attached to the back of the garage. My idea was to build a machine room adjacent to the garage and have a large set of doors put on the back of the garage so that equipment would be loaded/unloaded through the garage into the machine room. However, it gets pretty frosty in winter time here and pretty toasty in summer time. (I'm in Salt Lake City, UT.) Recently there was some program on TV touting the benefit of adobe construction for its high insulating value and keeping a relatively constant indoor temperature with little to no active heating or cooling. That got me to thinking that if you built a machine room with an adobe exterior, then you'd only need AC equipment to compensate for heat generated by the machines themselves and wouldn't need to worry much about the seasons. Any thoughts on this? Note that I'm not suggesting going without any active cooling, just wondering if adobe construction would lower the bills and make the necessary cooling equipment smaller. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>

18 years, 6 months

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