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101090 discussions

AMD2901s (was e: Inside old games machines,was: Re: Simulated CP/M-68K?)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: RE: AMD2901s (was e: Inside old games machines,was: Re: Simulated CP/M-68K?) > From: "Antonio Carlini" <arcarlini at iee.org> > Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:58:01 +0100 > To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >der Mouse wrote: >> Ah. Then "undocumented (as far as I can tell)" here really means "I >> haven't found the right manual yet". >> >> I'll keep your message around and go digging for the scans you refer >> to some time when I have the leisure. Thanks for the pointer! > >Before I forget I should say that slipping "78032" into Manx gets >you the CPU Chip guide and the KA630-AA User's Guide (which is >equivalent to what was later usually called the CPU Technical >Manual). > >Antonio Then again there are odball hardware like the DEC ADVICE a MVII(78032) on a board for in curcuit testing and development. I'm still hunting for manual for that board or even a schematic. Allison

19 years

Bitmap images

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

Hi, i was reading up on bitmap (mainly .bmp, with some .wbmp) images last night and was wondering why everything is stored backwards (e.g. BGR instead of RGB and the bottom of the image first, instead of the top)? Also would i need to pay a license if i wrote a program to create .bmp files? My main aim is to write a .bmp to (amiga) .iff format, but would love to add full .bmp support to an art program i wrote for the amiga and then stick it online (on Aminet.com ) for other people to use if they wish. - Andrew B (via mobile phone) --- cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org <RodSmallwood at mail.ediconsulting.co.uk> wrote: > Yes definitly existed.. > Same case as a VT52. > Difference may have been > > a) 12 x 80 > b) Uppercase only > c) 20mA only. > > Rod Smallwood > DEC Terminals Product Line 1973 > > -----Original Message----- > From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ashley Carder > Sent: 12 June 2007 18:28 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: Re: Strange VT50 Decscope > > >> Are there any former DEC employees (or anyone else) here who have > ever seen or heard of anything like this? > > Richard said: > >I saw one of these for sale on ebay recently, advertised as a VT52. > > > This is the one that was on ebay. It was listed as a VT50. It also > came with the VT50 engineering prints and a VT50 manual. > > Ashley > > >

19 years

AMD2901s (was e: Inside old games machines, was: Re: Simulated CP/M-68K?)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 6/19/07, woodelf <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote: > Providing the word length is a multiable of 4 bits that is. It sure would be "fun" to debug microcode issues with nine of those puppies chained together. -ethan

19 years

VCF/Rocky Mountains?

by legalize＠xmission.com

Any interest? -- "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/>

19 years

VCF/Midwest 3.0 - July 14/15

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

It's just 3 weeks until the third annual Vintage Computer Festival, Midwest edition. We've got a few interesting speakers lined up, and more to be added shortly. So come all ye collectors, see the speakers, and even exhibit your favorite items from your collection! We still have plenty of space to fill up with exhibitors. If you're interested in being an exhibitor, please sign up before Sunday, July 8th. Don't wait until the last minute, or there may not be space left! VCF/Midwest 3.0 will be July 14-15, at Purdue University's Stewart center. Speakers will run from 11a to 2p each day, and exhibits and the marketplace will be open from 2p to 6p. Admission is $5 per day for access to the whole event, and kids 17 and under get in for free. For more details, and to sign up as an exhbitor or vendor, please see the official VCF/Midwest 3.0 website at: http://www.vintage.org/2007/midwest/index.php If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message at: vcfmw at computer-refuge.org. Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

19 years

What are the really unusual or weird computers?

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

My taste for the last several years is to play around with 1: dedicated industrial logic (e.g. elevator and machine controllers) 2: Analog computers 3: Electromechanical stuff, especially if somewhat programmable Now, none of the above are things with video screens and keyboards, and in most cases they don't even have readily recognized "instruction sets", but they all do computing in a pre-Von-Neumann sense. I heavily, heavily try to stay away from stuff with keyboards and video screens and, even worse, anything with an "operating system" of any sort! I don't want to have anything to do with installing software. I want to solder tube sockets, read meters, turn knobs, and watch scope traces. Tim.

19 years

removing epoxy potting, etc.

by rtellason＠verizon.net

Just wondering, do any of you guys know of something that'll remove epoxy potting compounds? Only suggestion I've seen so far is some pretty nasty acid that I really don't want to mess with.... -- 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

19 years

Best solvent to remove sticky tape residue.

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> a citrus based liquid (orange juice I reckon) read the material safety data sheet for 'goo gone' the active ingredient isn't the citrus

19 years

My sale or swap list (Update)

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

Well if you if you will pardon the expression, "Its heading in the right direction" I agree, the charges build up is a bit of an unknown. > 'has 1 cubic meter of volume and the first 1000 kilos' That seems to be a lot of weight in a small space. Port to port is less of a problem for me as the UK is that much smaller than the US. I can get to most of the UK ports in an hour or two. Thers a good chance that there's a service from US east coast ports to UK west/south ports. So... Boston to Liverpool or Southampton New York to Liverpool or Southampton. Etc. Rod -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Mike Ford Sent: 11 June 2007 19:05 To: On-Topic Posts Only Subject: Re: My sale or swap list (Update) Rod Smallwood wrote: > Hi > I am curently investigating shipping costs between the UK and US. > As collectors we don't need next day delivery but we do need full > cover insurance. > > Don't go away. The cost is not that bad. > > Rod I'm looking at LCL oceanic shipping, its Less than Container Load, basically a rectangular box that fits about 20 to a container, has 1 cubic meter of volume and the first 1000 kilos is part of the base shipping cost of about $150. As usual lots of quicksand around the treasure, port fees, brokerage, customs, and its a port to port service, not terminal to terminal or door to door without adding a local ground shipper to the mix. Also its targeted to business, not private goods, so some places don't seem to want to even talk to a one time shipper. Complete and accurate paperwork seems essential. It does tend to be SLOW, as in couple weeks transit, with a month or more of sitting on a dock at either end.

19 years

removing epoxy potting, etc.

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Just wondering, do any of you guys know of something that'll remove epoxy > potting compounds? Hot air gun and a knife. Depending on how much clay is in the potting compound it may need to be hot enough to melt solder. It obviously will melt anything made of soft plastic that was potted, including the outside of electrolytics.

19 years

8" SCSI interface hard drives

by cheri-post＠web.de

Hello Ian, yes, 8 inch harddisk drives do exist with SCSI interface. Seagate produced the Sabre drives with SCSI interfaces with 360MB, 500MB, 1GB and 2GB. I suppose that they were made in the CDC/Imprimis facility, Seagate bought at the end of the 80's. These drives had sometimes a small console attached at the front, including an LCD-display! Apart from that, Fujitsu built interfaces in order to attach their ESMD drives to SCSI-interfaces. The drives then obtained the letters "KS" instead of "K" which stood for ESMD. I'm lucky to own such an interface, but I haven't had the time bring it back to life, as some electronic parts such as capacitors and resistors have been ripped off the PCB due to an excessive shock apparently. Does anybody knows, if other SCSI-drives with form factors greater than 5,25" had been built ? Regards, Pierre > > >From what I have heard, they did make 8" SCSI > interface hard drives (possibly a Seagate Sabre?), but > I was thinking about it the other day, and now I'm not > so sure. I have never seen one, nor have I heard of > one "in captivity". > > So - do they exist? > > -Ian > __________________________________________________________________________ Erweitern Sie FreeMail zu einem noch leistungsst?rkeren E-Mail-Postfach! Mehr Infos unter http://produkte.web.de/club/?mc=021131

19 years

8" SCSI interface hard drives

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

>From what I have heard, they did make 8" SCSI interface hard drives (possibly a Seagate Sabre?), but I was thinking about it the other day, and now I'm not so sure. I have never seen one, nor have I heard of one "in captivity". So - do they exist? -Ian

19 years

Ancient HP resources

by wacarder＠earthlink.net

My classic computer interests primarily center around early-to-mid 1970s DEC Unibus systems and peripherals. In my computer center I have a couple 1970-72 vintage Hewlett Packard X-Y plotters, an HP7202A and an HP7210A. In college back in the 70s we had an HP7200A, which is pretty much identical to the HP7202A except that the 7202A will support 100, 150, and 300 baud, while the 7200A only supports 100 baud. I am going to hook up the 7202A plotter to my PDP-11/40. It appears to support both 20mA and EIA (RS232) connections. I'd like to connect it to my M7814 20mA DZ11. Currently the only device connected to my 20mA DZ11 is an ASR-33 teletype. All other terminals (DecScopes, DecWriters, VT05, VT100, etc) are connected to the M7819 EIA DZ11. Does anyone here know of anyone who has worked with these kinds of plotters, connecting them to either a PDP-11 or an HP minicomputer? They were made to work in-line with an ASR-33, or they could be used somewhat like a printer, where you could send simple ASCII commands like PLTL for "Plot Line" or PLTP for "Plot Points", and then you would send it X,Y coordinates like "0001,0500". Back in the old days, we used programs like HPPLOT.BAS to do the plotting, and we had a program called CHGEN.BAS to generate characters so we could label our plots. I have these programs loaded on my PDP-11/40. Are there forums for classic HP hardware such as this, where I could get in touch with others who may have experience connecting these devices to my ancient minicomputer? I have Googled and there is not much info out on the web that I can find. Some info is on http://www.hpmuseum.net, but not much elsewhere. I have the User Manual and the Service Manual, as well as several pieces of marketing material on these plotters. Pictures of the plotter can be found at: http://www.woffordwitch.com/HP7202.asp Thanks in advance for any info or advice that anyone might be able to offer. Ashley Carder http://www.woffordwitch.com

19 years

Q-Bus core memory

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> For the Q-bus, I don't even know if any core memories exist. There was a 4k quad board for the original 11/03, but that was long dead by the time the T11 came out.

19 years

What are the really unusual or weird computers?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I thought I had seen your name in the output of the > "kudos" word on my G5. I should be in the hidden credits (ie. the 'cat in the hat' picture) >from the first PCI PowerMacs until Apple abandoned PPC in 2005.

19 years

House cleaning -- (mostly) free hardware available in the Seattle area...

by derschjo＠msu.edu

Moved into a new house and in the process realized I have a ton of computer stuff that I haven?t so much as looked at in the past several years. Figured you guys might get more use out of it than I have been. This stuff is free unless otherwise noted. Local pickup in the Seattle area ONLY. Anything leftover will be put on Craigslist in a week or so. Computers: - IBM POWERServer 560. Large MCA-based RS/6000 machine. From memory, it?s got a 50Mhz POWER Cpu, 128mb of RAM. No hard drive. I have an IBM-branded internal SCSI CD-ROM to go with it but no mounting rails. 10/100 ethernet, thicknet ethernet and some sort of FDDI card. Runs AIX 5.1 better than I thought it would. - IBM POWERServer 350. Small (ha) MCA-based RS/6000 machine, desktop sized. 64MB ram, no drive. Thicknet ethernet. - AT&T 3B2 1000/60. 16mb ram, 60MB tape, 350MB SCSI drive. Works, but has been scavenged for parts (missing most EPORTS cards, no dummy plates to replace them). - TRS-80 Data Terminal. Have not tested. A dumb terminal that looks like a Model III :). - HP 9000/236 w/Monitor. Missing ?S? key. Works but reports a floppy controller error on startup. I?d like $25 for this. - Sparcstation 10, dual 40Mhz SuperSparc, 64mb ram. - SGI Personal Iris 4D/35, for parts only ? has no ram or drives, I have no idea if what's in there works. A little bit of rust on the chassis. Ugh. - PowerMac 6100/60 and PowerMac 6100/66. Work, but ugly and probably the worst PowerMacs ever made. What a ringing endorsement! - Commodore Pet 8032. I?d like to get $50 for this, or an interesting trade. Someone did a nasty job replacing a RAM chip which involved seriously burning the PCB and replacing several traces with bits of wire. Amazingly it seems to work fine. Obviously no guarantees :). Laptops: - Tandy 1400HD and Tandy1400LT. No idea if they work, no AC adapter. - ?Leadman? 386, I seem to recall this had 4mb ram and an 80mb drive. AC adapter. - 2x Toshiba Tecra 750CDT, parts only ? both have odd keyboard failures, may be repairable. - 2x AST Ascentia 800n. 50Mhz 486, 8mb ram. Only 1 AC adapter. - 2x Zenith Data Systems SuperSport. 8088, 640k ram, 20mb hard disk, 720k floppy. These worked the last time I used them but I can?t for the life of me find the AC adapters. Monitors: - Apple III monochrome monitor (green phosphor). Decent shape, but has ?GRJC? spraypainted on the top (it was from Grand Rapids Junior College). Small scratch in the glare-proof coating. Works. - Commodore 1702 monitor. Works great, missing fold-out cover over the adjustment knobs in front. - Moniterm Viking 22? B&W monitor, with Mac NuBus adapter to drive it. If I recall it does 1280x1024 at 60Hz. It may be possible to hook a Sun mono framebuffer to it if it?ll do the right refresh rate. Worked last time I used it, but the picture was a bit jumpy from time to time. If you need more details on any of these, don?t hesitate to contact me. Thanks! - Josh

19 years

flexowriter patent

by aek＠bitsavers.org

stumbled upon this looking for something else at uspto.gov http://bitsavers.org/frieden/flexowriter/Patent_2700446_Jan55.pdf

19 years

Multithreaded hardware (LispMs)

by aijones2＠bsu.edu

> > Message: 29 > Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2007 07:38:46 -0400 > From: Brad Parker <brad at heeltoe.com> > Subject: Re: Multithreaded hardware > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Message-ID: <200706241138.l5OBckR7029888 at mwave.heeltoe.com> > > I believe the Symbolics 3600 has support for multiple tasks in hardware > at the microcode level. Unfortunately internals of the 3600 are hard to > come by, but I keep digging. > > (I found someone the other day who worked on a "lisp risc machine" FPGA at > Symbolics. He says he may have some tapes... :-) > > -brad > Symbolics last hardware products used a sort of lisp-machine-on-a-chip developed for use inside ATM networking gear (AT&T, maybe?). I think that may be what the "Zora" was. Google's not being very helpful on this one. My memory's not that good, and whatever I originally read was apocryphal at best. I could be wrong, but I think the NXP1000 (the final, headless workstation) used a similar chipset after the other project fizzled. The only relevant link I can find is http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/~r.f.moeller/symbolics-info/zora/zora.html If you find out anything interesting from your acquaintance with the tapes, you had better post it.

19 years

Massbus simulation

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Something tells me a MASSBUS-interfaced peripheral would be of > somewhat limited appeal. ;) Every DEC10 owner I know would want one. Guy started on a design, but I think he got tied up with other projects. Mike Ross bought bits of a commercial unit, but I don't think he ever found the software.

19 years

What are the really unusual or weird computers?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I assume that along with this go the usual virtual-memory features as > well as address-space protection. I couldn't imagine this being done > in unprotected non-paged non-virtual memory hardware Systems in a single address space have been implemented using a strongly-typed language. Mesa, for example, on the Xerox Star, which had many active 'threads' in a single address space with protection enforced by the language. Obviously, these languages don't support unchecked memory access though pointers.

19 years

Multithreaded hardware

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> The CDC 6000 series used a 10 way multithreaded architecture > virtualized as 10 independent 12-bit processors for I/O. No > interrupts necessary there either. But then, back in 1964, I don't > know if the word "multithreaded" had been invented yet. This also apparently appears in the Honeywell 1800. Need to dig out info on that. I knew the TX-2 and Xerox Alto implemented multiple hardware contexts. I'm pretty sure Mark Smotherman covers this on his site, which Brad mentioned a day or two ago.

19 years

Andromeda ESDC Q-Bus ESDI controller manual, anyone have one?

by glen.slick＠gmail.com

Does anyone have the manual for the Andromeda ESDC Q-Bus ESDI controller? I have a controller which is not currently installed and there are enough jumpers on it that it would take a while to try to figure out exactly what they all do. A pinout for the serial port would be good to have also, although I could probably trace back to the MAX232 to figure out that pinout. Thanks, Glen

19 years

The late, great TRS-80 - 1st Z-80 appliance computer.

by billdeg＠degnanco.com

> > > The First Off-the-Shelf Microcomputer > >On Sat, 23 Jun 2007, Lance Lyon wrote: > > Errrr.... wasn't that the PET 20001 ? > >Possibly. I have recently done research into this topic. In Kilobaud and Byte magazines of 1977, there is general consensus that the Apple II, PET 2001, and TRS 80 were the first of a new class of "appliance" microcomputers. This is their term, not mine. There are numerous references to the "appliance computer class" in articles and comparisons to kit computers, etc. The appliance computer is defined as a computer ready to be used, out-of-the-box directly from the manufacturer. No component assembly required. Although you could get a KIM or Altair pre-assembled (there are ads in 1976 for this kind of service), ready to use with software, a middle-man would do the assembly/configuration/testing, not the manufacturer. Interestingly, this term appliance computer kind of fell off. The last reference I could find was a short 1978 article describing the Attache as an appliance computer. Other mag references? Using the Kilobaud and Byte mag definitions, I think it's safe to say that the TRS 80 was the first Z80-based appliance computer. According to these sources the Apple II started shipping earlier in 1977 than the PET 2001 or the TRS 80, so the Apple II the first appliance computer. The PET is the 2nd 6502 appliance computer, the first with a built-in monitor. The TRS 80 is definitely NOT the first microcomputer. Bill D

19 years

IBM Series/1

by jplist2007＠kiwigeek.com

Hey all; I have an IBM Series/1 that I picked up a few years ago. I've just pulled manuals from BitSavers (Whee! Way to go!) and clearly have an awful, awful lot of reading to do. Unfortunately my S/1 was pillaged by some cretin before I picked it up - the logic section appears to be complete, although some wires have been cut (Hopefully they were leading to external devices). Unfortunately everything behind the operators panel is missing - I'm not even sure what went there, I'm guessing the units power supply. Is there anyone out there on the list that has one of these that can help me get an idea what I'm missing and, in the best case, maybe even has a little software for the unit? Thanks all; JP (knee deep in PDFs)

19 years

What are the really unusual or weird computers?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Also, don't forget that every PCI-based Power Macintosh could be forced into > OpenFirmware. And you can thank me and Ron Hochsprung for that. When we were developing the second generation PPC Macs, Ron and I decided that OF would be the best solution for boot support of PCI devices, since Sun had forced OF into the PCI spec for boot firmware and neither of us thought Apple should reinvent some one-off boot protocol. But thanks to all the world being x86, it really didn't matter anyway since very few vendors ever supported OF on their cards.

19 years

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