test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by dj.taylor4＠comcast.net

I've been compiling and running some Fortran programs on my microPDP11/53 computer and have questions about Fortran VIRTUAL arrays. Details: KDJ11-D/S cpu with 0.5 MB of ram, additional 1MB of Qbus ram.? I'm running RT11 V5.7 ZM and using the F77XM compiler, version 5 (I think). What I am seeing is that when I use VIRTUAL arrays instead of the usual memory below 64K the run times are dramatically slower.? Is this normal? Could it be something else?? The other memory board?

7 years, 1 month

Televideo 925 character rom dump

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- I'm working on a Televideo 925 terminal with a few problems, one of which is a bad character generator ROM, (a MOS 2332). Does anyone have a dump of this already, or have a working 925 they'd be able to dump the ROM from? Thanks in advance, Josh

7 years, 1 month

Need part for Sun 2/129

by earl＠baugh.org

I?m in the process of restoring a Sun 2/120 and realized that the unit I have doesn?t have the back plate and cables for monitor and keyboard/mouse. I have spare parts to trade for 2/120 ( including a sun 2/120 keyboard cable I found today. ) or can do $$ Earl Sent from my iPhone Sent from my iPhone

7 years, 1 month

Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Thanks? Al? ?yes, that? is? the? one. and? as? I? recall? ?ISS? was a? ?offshoot? on? ?univac Do? ?you? have? any? Thanks Ed# In a message dated 4/22/2019 11:34:58 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: Thanks? Al? ?yes, that? is? the? one. and? as? I? recall? ?ISS? was a? ?offshoot? on? ?univac?In a message dated 4/22/2019 11:21:50 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On 4/22/19 11:05 AM, ED SHARPE wrote:> Al,? the? drive? ?you mention at? its? largest? ?was? 7.5 meg? and? 6? platters... not? ? the? ?one Telex bought their drives from ISS.You're looking for a ISS 714 (ca. 1970) 2314 compat.https://ia800608.us.archive.org/15/items/TNM_Information_Storage_Sys… aek at bitsavers.org;cctalk

7 years, 1 month

Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Thanks? Al? ?yes, that? is? the? one.? and? as? I? recall? ?ISS? was a? ?offshoot? on? ?univac?In a message dated 4/22/2019 11:21:50 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On 4/22/19 11:05 AM, ED SHARPE wrote: > Al,? the? drive? ?you mention at? its? largest? ?was? 7.5 meg? and? 6? platters... not? ? the? ?one Telex bought their drives from ISS. You're looking for a ISS 714 (ca. 1970) 2314 compat. https://ia800608.us.archive.org/15/items/TNM_Information_Storage_Systems_-_… aek at bitsavers.org;cctalk

7 years, 1 month

IBM 6360 - interface help?

by anders.k.nelson＠gmail.com

CCing the list back in, and still looking for someone in the NY area with a Displaywriter (with disk drive) that could help me take some logic traces - ==== Quoth Nigel: just in case you missed it your reply only went to me. On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 1:45 PM Anders Nelson <anders.k.nelson at gmail.com> wrote: > Nigel - Wow, very cool! I assume you dumped a ROM feeding an 8048 inside the 6360 drive housing? Someone dumped the original ROM, it is in the github repo too. > FWIW, I also found a Displaywriter withOUT keyboard or disk drive: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1984-IBM-6580-Display-Station-Word-Process… If you want a 6580 keyboard you either have to get lucky or outbid the mech-heads...be prepared to bid a lot though. Estate sales are the thing to haunt to get one intact. ==== Thanks Nigel, more below! -- Anders Nelson +1 (517) 775-6129 www.erogear.com On Sun, Apr 21, 2019 at 11:45 PM Anders Nelson <anders.k.nelson at gmail.com> wrote: > Nigel - Wow, very cool! I assume you dumped a ROM feeding an 8048 inside > the 6360 drive housing? > > I agree a logic dump would be invaluable so if I can get in front of a DW > I'll capture and share all I find on my blog (and wherever else). > > Al - I found a USB conversion kit for this keyboard and it's all > open-source, so by reversing the key-matrix decode step in the kit's MCU > firmware we might be able to feed the original keyboard controller with > keystrokes from, say, another USB keyboard. A very roundabout hack but it > seems these keyboards are rare. Here are the conversion kit sources: > > Forum: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=58138.0 > Direct: http://downloads.cornall.co/ibm-capsense-usb/ > > Any chance someone knows the original keyboard controller pinout and > protocol? > > FWIW, I also found a Displaywriter withOUT keyboard or disk drive: > https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1984-IBM-6580-Display-Station-Word-Process… > > =] > -- > Anders Nelson > > +1 (517) 775-6129 > > www.erogear.com > > > On Sun, Apr 21, 2019 at 11:12 PM Nigel Williams < > nw at retrocomputingtasmania.com> wrote: > >> Hi Anders, >> >> good luck with your exploration of the 6360. >> >> Back in Jan-2017, I assisted Sergey who did the MAME implementation of >> the Displaywriter, as Al Kossow mentioned in an earlier email the code >> is here: >> >> >> https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/97b67170277437131adf6ed4d60139c172529e… >> >> During this process I started disassembling the 6360, attached is a >> file that I developed with comments. It is incomplete but might help >> understand the protocol. >> >> One thing to keep in mind is that the Displaywriter is made up of >> (almost) standalone subsystems, so the floppy drive unit has its own >> 8048 microprocessor and accepts high-level commands from the system >> unit. >> >> Sergey and I were chatting about returning to work on the MAME >> Displaywriter implementation at some point. We really need a >> logic-analyser dump of the startup since it is very convoluted (it has >> a large section of code attempting to check that all the hardware is >> working so it is doing all manner of tricks to check things). >> >> cheers, >> nigel. >> www.retroComputingTasmania.com >> >> >> On Mon, Apr 1, 2019 at 6:42 AM Anders Nelson via cctalk >> <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: >> > Can anyone help with the protocol? >> >

7 years, 1 month

Telex 274-61C Establishment Controller

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Picked one up, it is the last generation of 3274-style controllers before they went to 3174-style ca. 1988. I'd like to find manuals and the IPL diskette (1.2mb). The unit actually had an IPL floppy, but it disintegrated trying to recover it (there is signs of rust inside the hardware so the whole thing got wet). I took some pics of the boards (each one has a 68000 on it, only one board has eproms) and dumped the firmware which is up now under telex on bitsavers. Curiously, the floppy appears to be in FILES-11 format..

7 years, 1 month

Ultrix 3.0 VAX

by dennis.grevenstein＠gmail.com

Hi, I am looking for images of Ultrix 3.0 installation tapes for VAX. I know that there are some on bitsavers: http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/bits/DEC/vax/ultrix/3.0/ However, I cannot boot them in simh. There are also 4.0 images that boot fine. I then installed 4.0 and looked at the 3.0 tape images. I could extract the base 3.0 filesets, but the standalone parts that allow booting a system appear to be missing. Thus, I could not even setup a remote installation environment. Can anybody help me out with bootable Ultrix 3 tape images? thanks, Dennis

7 years, 1 month

TeleVideo MmmOST replacement

by pat＠vax11.net

I've finally have cleaned up sources and wrote up some documentation for my TeleVideo MmmOST replacement. Let me know if you have interest in this, need help, or could help me source a working TS-806 to compare this against. https://worldofvax.blogspot.com/2019/04/televideo-systems-part-vii-almmmost… Pat

7 years, 1 month

Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list thanks Ed# ---hope this works and see ds from phone ok... thx try it? again!In a message dated 4/21/2019 3:58:15 PM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list thanks Ed# ---hope this works and see ds from phone ok... thx

7 years, 1 month

CDC BK6XX BK7XX maintenance manual Vol2

by abacos_98＠yahoo.com

I have a CDC BK6XX BK7XX Maintenance manual Vol 2 available.If anyone has an immediate need I will send it free but please passit on to Bitsavers after scanning as I did not see this one listed. Brian.

7 years, 1 month

Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

2311? was? not? ?20? megs..... from? what? I? saw... what is the? ?#? ?for the? 20 meg? telex? drive?thanks? ed# In a message dated 4/22/2019 10:01:04 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On 4/22/19 9:49 AM, ED (knuttjobb) SHARPE via cctalk wrote: >? Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list thanks Presumably he is looking for a Telex 2311-compatible drive, but who knows wtf Ed says.

7 years, 1 month

Still looking for a RK611

by abacos_98＠yahoo.com

Hello, ?I have just about all the pieces I need to start work on getting at least one of my RK07's running. I found cables, terminators and cab kit but still need to find an RK611. I have just a few things I could trade. A very nice PDP11 labeled header panel for a DEC rack.No broken ears and not all scratched up. Brand new DECstation 5000/260 processor. Some non-DEC early PC boards. I would also pay a reasonable price for one. Thanks,Brian.

7 years, 1 month

IBM 6360 - interface help?

by anders.k.nelson＠gmail.com

Hey all, I'm writing a blog post about this IBM 6360 disk controller I want to build: https://www.andersknelson.com/blog/?p=601 I've read through the service manuals and other docs on Bitsavers but I can't seem to find a deeper explanation on the protocol that runs over the DB-37 cable. I suppose I could bypass the controller inside the drive cabinet and directly control the drives but I bet it'll be easier/better to use as much of the electronics as possible. Can anyone help with the protocol? Thanks! -- Anders Nelson +1 (517) 775-6129 www.erogear.com

7 years, 1 month

DEC PDP-11/70 cabinet setup

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Nigel Williams >> it's the same as all the other PDP-11 etc logo panels,... > when you say "same", as in the same text as well? Sorry, I should have been more explicit. 'Same physical shape' is what I meant; just different stuff painted on the insert. > thanks for the confirmation. Sure, glad to help. Noel

7 years, 1 month

DEC PDP-11/70 cabinet setup

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Nigel Williams > I'm wondering if on a real 11/70 there is a 5mm gap between the > masthead and the rack blanking panel below it? If by "masthead" you mean the thing DEC calls a "Logo Panel" (see 11/70 Engineering Drawings, 'Unit Assembly', pg 1 of 5), it's the same as all the other PDP-11 etc logo panels, the -11/70 just has an inlay (thin metal sheet) which is painted differently. And yes, there's a 5mm gap between the top of the top 10-1/2" blank panel, and the bottom edge of the logo panel. Noel

7 years, 1 month

Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Subject: Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list.. Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list thanks Ed# ---hope this works and see ds from phone ok... thx-------

7 years, 1 month

Rgb intensity line

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

I am fashioning an RGB cable from parts. The computer (LNW80) does not send an "intensity" signal, it is only a 6pin rgb. The magnavox rgb 80 display that I wish to use to receive has a pin for an intensity signal. Other than "intensity" the rgb signals can be matched up. Question...what happens when a computer does not send an intensity signal to a display that has this input? I will find out soon enough but I am curious to ask before I begin should anyone have a suggestion. Do I need to add a resistor off of ground or something to fix it to something? Bill

7 years, 1 month

DEC PDP-11/70 cabinet setup

by nw＠retrocomputingtasmania.com

I'm hoping to (partially) recreate an 11/70 setup, at least as close as I can get with what I have on hand (see the first pic in this gallery that shows the 11/70 advert): https://imgur.com/a/pvgUVmg I don't have the right masthead but I'm wondering if on a real 11/70 there is a 5mm gap between the masthead and the rack blanking panel below it? I can't see with these pieces a way to close the gap, but I'm curious as to whether the real thing also has the gap? thanks.

7 years, 1 month

Plane of core memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Curious Marc > I believe 3 wire memory was first introduced by IBM in their 360 > systems ... They would almost certainly have patented their way to do it Correct (and your knowledge and memory is good)! Motivated by this clue, I looked in: Emerson W. Pugh, "Memories That Shaped an Industry" MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984 where the description of the invention of 3-wire core can be found on pg. 231; it was invented by a group of engineers, based on a similar idea used in Stretch. There is indeed a patent, No. 3,381,282, with six names on it. IBM must have licensed it, but there is nothing on that. I can highly recommend that book; it's in the same league as the later two books on early IBM computers from MIT Press on which he was a co-author. Noel PS: There was recent discussion here of the 8000 series; there are some details on that on pp. 189-191.

7 years, 2 months

Care and feeding of true barn-find systems

by aperry＠snowmoose.com

Yesterday I rescued a Sun 3/260 that had been sitting in an open barn for years. It had been "running when parked" a dozen years ago.? It seems to have been covered by a tarp, but otherwise unprotected. All things considered, it doesn't look that bad but it is pretty rough. Any pointers on things that I should and shouldn't do as I start trying to bring it back to life? alan

7 years, 2 months

MSCP Conformance tests?

by derschjo＠gmail.com

I'm working on implementing an MSCP controller on top of Joerg Hoppe's Unibone and I'm making pretty good progress -- RT-11 works and I'm working on getting 2.11bsd to boot from it in an 11/84 (it works well enough to load "boot" which then loads the kernel, then things fall over). However, given the complexity of the protocol I'd like to be able to test it against something official rather than going from OS to OS and hammering out issues as I find them. DEC's UDA50 diagnostics assume an actual UDA50 (and expect specific behaviors like onboard diagnostics, etc.) and I don't really want to emulate a UDA50 -- I just want to implement a generic MSCP controller properly. I'm assuming the answer is "no" but did DEC ever provide actual MSCP conformance tests (for PDP-11 or VAX) to allow third parties to test their implementations? Thanks as always, Josh

7 years, 2 months

Plane of core memory

by ullbeking＠andrewnesbit.org

Hello all, I have been wanting to acquire a plane of magnetic core memory as a piece of computing history. My partner actually thinks they look very beautiful and says we should frame it, if we ever find a plane. At the time I was thinking about memory from the S/360. But in retrospect, this is not necessary. It would, however, be nice to know what computer a prospective purchase likely came from. It adds to the meaning. One of my online friends just pointed this to me, which I am considering purchasing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/264262833353 There is no indication of what sort of computer it came from. However I have been told to check the bus connector. Does anybody here have any ideas? For example, what is it? Or, if you don't know, could you point me in the right direction so I can do the research myself? Thanks!! Kind regards, Andrew -- OpenPGP key: EB28 0338 28B7 19DA DAB0 B193 D21D 996E 883B E5B9

7 years, 2 months

Control Console, but not PDP-10

by pbirkel＠gmail.com

The PDP-10 Control Console sold for $3,650.00. Amazing! Now consider a DSKY. Currently at $27,500.00. Auction estimate: $60,000+ Great provenance! ?The DSKY that saved Apollo 14.? https://www.rrauction.com/bidtracker_detail.cfm?IN=5222 ?Apollo 14 LM Simulator Computer Display and Keyboard (DSKY) from MIT Instrumentation Laboratory? Historically significant Apollo Guidance Computer Display and Keyboard (DSKY) unit from the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, used by Don Eyles and Sam Drake to verify the software patch needed to avoid an abort during the Apollo 14 lunar landing sequence. The data entry and display device measures 8? x 8? x 6.5?, and has 19 keys and an electroluminescent digital display. The back of the unit retains its metal NASA parts tag which reads, ?Apollo G & N System, AGC DSKY Assy, Part No. 2003985-041, Serial No. RAY 26, NAS 9-497, Designed by M.I.T. Instrumentation Lab, Mfg. by Raytheon Co., " with yellow inspection stamps above. In fine condition. Accompanied by a detailed letter of provenance from the present owner, who was employed at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory to design, build, and maintain the CM and LM cockpit simulators. He retained the DSKY in 1978 when the LM cockpit simulator was dismantled and discarded. The DSKY was the astronaut's interface to the Apollo Guidance Computer developed by MIT, and was critical to every aspect of the mission. Each program had a two-digit code and commands were entered as two-digit numbers in a verb-noun sequence. The device permitted the astronauts to collect and provide flight information necessary for the precise landings on the moon. It was the DSKY that provided the astronauts with critical burn times for engine firings, course corrections, trajectories, and other key calculations vital in getting a crew to and from the moon. The DSKY also reported the program alarm moments before the LM touched down on the lunar surface to land. During Apollo 14, a loose ball of solder floating inside the abort switch of the LM Antares caused an intermittent short circuit, threatening to accidentally activate the switch and rocket the module back into orbit during its landing sequence. In order to prevent that scenario, MIT computer programmer Don Eyles, a developer of the AGC's source code, was asked to hack his own software to find a workaround. This represented the most dramatic moment for MIT's programmers throughout the entire Apollo program, as they had just three to four hours to work out a fix, test it, and relay it to the astronauts in time for Powered Descent Initiation (PDI). Eyles accomplished his task in just two hours, developing a 26-command sequence to be entered into the DSKY that reprogrammed the AGC to ignore the abort button. The codes were relayed to Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell with ten minutes to spare, and the LM Antares successfully touched down on the lunar surface at 09:18:11 UTC on February 5, 1971. As the MIT DSKY used to verify the code that saved the Apollo 14 mission, this is an exceptionally important piece of space history. -----

7 years, 2 months

Plane of core memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jon Elson > As soon as somebody figured out that you could combine the sense and > inhibit wires, everybody immediately went to 3-wire planes. I"m suprised the idea wasn't patented. Or maybe it was, and they made the license widely available at modest terms? Noel

7 years, 2 months

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