test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by oldcpu＠rogerwilco.org

Jay West wrote: > J Blaser wrote.... > >I don't know anything about HP minis, so I don't know what to look for, but > >for those on the list that have HPs and might be interested... > > > > The main unit: item # 320060663740 > > The FP unit: item # 320060663048 > > > > No bids yet. > > And hopefully there won't be... unless you want parts - cause it's got > issues. > > I noticed this system on ebay a night or two ago. I was going to post a > warning here to people about it, but just didn't get a roundtuit. > > 1) The power supply for the cpu has been pulled (ie. is not present). That > doesn't bode well ;) > 2) The DCPC card (that's DMA to you and me) appears to be missing and the > cable is dangling. This was standard on the 2117 (1000F aka 21MX/F) I think. > 3) There is NO memory, nor a memory controller in the box, they appear to > have been snagged. > 4) Either the FEM board has been pulled, or they just used the wrong cable > to connect the FAB to the cpu board. Given that slot 10 is empty and thus > creates a break in the interrupt chain, I'm guessing the former. That means > you're likely missing microcode. Could just be vendor microcode... or your > base instruction set ;) > 5) There appears to be something homebrew on the TBG board in slot 11. At > least it's nothing I've ever seen. Given the RPL markings on the front this > tends to make me think of process control. Maybe the cable was to allow some > other device to generate the time based interrupts. > 6) Third party board in slot 12. Who knows. > 7) 13037 disk interface in slot 13, that matches the front panel markings as > likely boot device. > 8) Note the 8 channel mux card is not compatible with TSB. Note also the > non-standard edge card connection. PSI board? > 9) 7970 tape controller set, handy to have. > 10) Two microcircuit boards. I happen to REALLY like these. If anyone buys > this sytem, I'd be willing to pay for one or two of these cards :) > 11) Missing board in slot 22... there goes your interrupts. Who knows, maybe > this system ran something that was only polled. > 12) Don't recognize the board in slot 23. > > On the plus side, it IS an F series... the FP unit is auctioned separately > and they are calling it a power supply. Nope, it's a floating point unit. > There IS no power supply - and there sure is supposed to be ;) > > I am not familiar enough with the F series to know if that FP unit includes > all the necessary boards and/or connectors. > > Random thoughts.... > > Jay Jay, thanks for the rundown on this system. The closest I've ever come to an HP mini was when I saw a 6' rack that with one at the local university surplus 'store'. Unfortunately, they were only relocating the system to another part of campus, so would not sell it. Frankly, I was interested in it *because* it was fully racked with drives, etc., and had an ASR-33 with it. It was clearly a whole system. (BTW, I did convince them to sell me the ASR-33!) But, this business with ebay is really starting to annoy me, since it's nearly impossible to find a whole system, these days. Everybody is just parting out the bits and pieces, like that whole series of the '11/40' unibus boards that end this evening. I'm becoming a bit disheartened with the 'chop shop' mentality. And, that's trouble for someone that is ignorant of what key components may or may not be required to get a system functional again. It sure is easier to 'shop' for parts that when you already have knowledge of the system in question. On the other hand, I think that's what I like about this 'hobby'... the exploration and (re)discovery of what these old systems really were/are and how they are operated. I admit that it isn't just the operation of my little collection of qbus systems (PDP's and VAXen) that is the end all, but rather the discovery, in my case (versus re-discovery), of how these system were constructed, configured and operated. Truthfully, this is the fun part for me. So, thanks to you, Jay -- and others on the list -- for keeping the fires burning, and helping us 'ameteurs' out from time to time. J

19 years, 6 months

VR241 and X.Org

by toresbe＠ifi.uio.no

I'm playing around with a VR241 - the colour monitor bit of the VT241 - and trying to make it work as a standard video monitor. It has two pairs of RGB+sync inputs, and an "INT/EXT" (presumably sync) toggle switch. I have been unable to find any specifications for this monitor online. I don't think the Monitor Database one is correct - if it is, I'm doing something wrong. Is it possible to hook this thing up to a PC? Is there anything I need to bear in mind when configuring X? TIA, -Tore

19 years, 6 months

HP-3000 (was: HP HP-2117F on ebay)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Speaking of old HP minis, does anyone have an HP-3000 in their > collection? CHM has a Series II, Series III and a model 44. Finding MPE that will run on these is the problem. There has been talk of a classic 3000 simulator for a while, but I've not been able to find early enough software releases for the machines with good hardware documentation. The 4x series machines have a console processor is a HP proprietary microcontroller unlike those that came out of Fort Collins.

19 years, 6 months

HP HP-2117F on ebay

by steerex＠mindspring.com

>>10) Two microcircuit boards. I happen to REALLY like these. If anyone buys this sytem, I'd be willing to pay for one or two of these cards :) Jay, I have 4 or 5 complete HP1000's and a bunch of spare boards. I wouldn't offer them to just "anyone" but, if you need a couple of microcircuit boards, I'd part with them for the cost of shipping. If there's any other boards that you "REALLY" need, I might be willing to part with some of them as well. See Ya, SteveRob

19 years, 6 months

VR241 and X.Org

by adamg＠pobox.com

>It's a normal TV rate (that is, 15.7kHz horizontal, 60Hz vertical) RGB >analogue monitor. >> Is it possible to hook this thing up to a PC? Is there anything I need >> to bear in mind when configuring X? >It will not sunc to nromal VGA frequencies. Period. I cna't think of a PC >video adapter that will easily drive it, either. Matrox cards (including 220, G100, G200 and G400) have a fully programmable dot-clock, so they should be able to drive it. They'll drive a Commodore 1080, which is also a TV-rate monitor -- I just tried it. Of course, you won't get a valid display until the OS comes up and sets the video mode. I believe there's a tool to flash the video BIOS so it'll power up in the desired mode, but then you won't be able to use a VGA monitor with that card any more, unless you flash it back. -- Adam

19 years, 6 months

BASF 6114 disk drive

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I have a flyer dating from 1972 for the WSP 414 > drive (which is exactly the same; used to be hooked up to the TR-440) It is a Century Data 114 drive. http://bitsavers.org/pdf/centuryData/TM114-1072-J-1M_Model_114_Tech_Oct73.p…

19 years, 6 months

History of EDA (electronic design automation)?

by Bob.Adamson＠sli-institute.ac.uk

To add a twopennyworth to the thread, I used a transient analysis program (a bit like Spice for those who are familiar) around 1970 to help in designing MOS integrated circuits. It was called TRIMOS, written in Fortran for the PDP10 and also run on a local university's ICL4130. I had a much-reduced version which I translated into Focal and ran (if that's the right word) on a PDP-8/I around 1971 which was OK for working out DC operating points. The same company had some layout tools again for MOS ICs called IIRC Lady Jane which ran on the 10. This fell into disuse when Calma brought out their DG Nova-based GDS1 system somewhere around 1973. I wouldn't want to go back though. Bob Adamson

19 years, 6 months

Looking for old VMS and Ultrix releases

by mnusa2＠hotmail.com

I have a list of tapes of which I have little knowledge. Currently I cannot (easily) read these tapes. Is there anything of interest. I think they are all for RICS. Here are texts from labels: Text1 Text2 Text3 Copyright AQ-FP14D-BN ME71826 DECNET MVMS V4 NET F/FUNC TK5 DEC 1987 AQ-FX23D-BN ME93124 DNET/SNA GTWY VMS V1.5 TK50 DEC 1989 AQ-ND04A-BE ME2821 DNET/SNA GWY DECSA V1.5 BIN TK50 MANDATORY UPDATE TK50 DEC 1989 AQ-JE99A-BE ME103961 DNET/SNA GWY MGT V2.0 BINTK50 DEC 1988 AQ-JE86A-BK ME105813 DNET/SNA GWY-ST V1.0 BIN TK50 DEC 1988 AQ-FW79E-BE ME86562 MR VMSMAIL GTWY V3.1 BIN TK50 DEC 1988 AQ-JB02C-BE ME71381 MR X.400 GTWY V2.0 BIN TK50 DEC 1988 AQ-JB02D-BE ME84127 MR X.400 GTWY V2.1 BIN TK50 DEC 1988 AQ-FX44D-BN ME93622 SNA GWY MQT-DESCA V1.5 BNTK50 DEC 1989 AQ-GJ04B-BN ME71876 SNA VMS API V2.2 BIN TK50 DEC 1988 AQ-GJ04C-BE ME107116 SNA VMS API V2.3 BIN TK50 DEC 1989 AQ-FX37G-BE ME9002 VAX P.S.I. V4.0 BIN TK50 DEC 1988 AQ-FX37H-BE ME136049 VAX P.S.I. V4.3 BIN TK50 DEC 1990 AQ-FP58C-BN ME00028 VMS LIC KEY BIN TK50 DEC 1986 AQ-LX08C-BE 000MRB9823 VMS V5.1 BIN TK50 MAJOR UPDATE DEC 1989 AQ-LX08D-BE ME101980 VMS V5.1-1 BIN TK50 MAINTENANCE UPDATE DEC 1989 AQ-NB26A-BE ME4010 VMS V5.1-B BIN TK50 BINARY DEC 1989 AQ-LX08F-BE ME608 VMS V5.3-1 BIN TK50 DEC 1990 AQ-JP22F-BE ME151440B VMS V5.4 BIN TK50 1/2 BINARY DEC 1990 AQ-LC99C-BE ME4020 VMS V5.4 BIN TK50 2/2 S/A BKUP - DECWINDOWS DEC 1990 AQ-NJ58B-BE ME999A VMS V5.4 BIN TK50 WARRANTY MANDATORY UPDATE DEC 1990 AQ-FX08H-BE ME1008B VMS V5.4-1 BIN TK50 DEC 1990 AQ-PG7SA-BE ME27000C VMS V5.4-2 BIN TK50 1/1 DEC 1991 AQ-LQ18A-BE ME84679 VOTS V2.0 BIN TK50 DEC 1988 _________________________________________________________________ Nyt l?yd?t etsim?si tiedot nopeasti niin koneeltasi kuin netist?. http://toolbar.msn.fi

19 years, 6 months

Al Shugart dies at age 76

by spectre＠floodgap.com

I don't remember seeing this noted here, so ... http://news.com.com/Al+Shugart%2C+hard-drive+pioneer%2C+dies+at+76/2100-101… -- --------------------------------- personal: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- An apple every eight hours will keep three doctors away. -------------------

19 years, 6 months

TI Silent 700 models

by adamg＠pobox.com

>Did any model Silent 700 ever do "true" lower-case, with descenders and >ascenders, as opposed to small-caps only? On a printout from my TI terminal, the tails on the lowercase y and g do extend below the baseline, but not into the line below. The uppercase O is weird, though -- it's rectangular. According to my notes the terminal is a Silent 700 Model 707. It's in storage so I can't look at it now. It's one of the smaller ones with a direct connect modem. I can scan the printout if you like. -- Adam

19 years, 6 months

The power supply of my vax 3900 is making a weak squeaking sound

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> It is on the CPU side. It sounds like there is a high voltage leakage > problem. You turn it on, and it goes "squeak squeak squeak squeak"? Maybe the LED on the supply is faintly blinking at the same rate? This is the symptom if there isn't the required minimum power load in the Q-bus backplane. The power supply begins to start up, doesn't see enough load, and shuts down, and this repeats every second or so. For minimally configured systems there was a Q-bus card with a bunch of resistors to suck up some current. I think in the box, that one of the two power supplies does the odd-numbered slots, and the other does the even numbered slots. Loads must be distributed to cover both supplies and both supplies need their minimum load met. Sometimes even if you have the required minimum load the power supply will not start up with this symptom. Adding more load seems to help! Tim.

19 years, 6 months

Q22 BUS parity check?

by vax9000＠gmail.com

Hello, I read the Q22 specification (search "Q22 specification" on this page: http://www.chd.dyndns.org/qbus_ide/ ) but the parity check function is still not clear to me. My questions are, 1. Is there parity check when interrupt vector is read ? 2. Is there parity check if IO page is read? 3. What is the polarity of the parity bit? Those questions are not answered from the specification. Any expert here? Thanks vax, 9000

19 years, 6 months

mini-ITX VT220?

by legalize＠xmission.com

I had a dead VT220 at some point (just the monitor, no keyboard). I kept the enclosure with the idea of making something out of it someday. Has anyone taken 'classic' terminal enclosures and put a Mini-ITX PC inside? I was thinking an appropriately sized LCD display and the ITX mobo and possibly a CD-ROM drive. See <http://www.mini-itx.com/projects.asp> for more on mini-itx projects. -- "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, 6 months

What would it take...

by lee＠geekdot.com

> The downside, of course, is that as the hobbyist-end-user, you are > somewhat out in the cold if you don't own a GAL programmer. They can > easily run to hundreds of dollars for basic ones, and, unlike an old > 4K EPROM, they are not trivial to make programmers for from scratch. There are no excuses .. http://www.geocities.com/mwinterhoff/galblast.htm Lee.

19 years, 6 months

The power supply of my vax 3900 is making a weak squeaking sound

by vax9000＠gmail.com

It is on the CPU side. It sounds like there is a high voltage leakage problem. Before I open it for an investigation, could somebody with experience give me directions about what is the usual cause of this problem, which component to check, and how to fix the problem? I have experience with analog circuits. Thank you! vax, 9000

19 years, 6 months

History of EDA (electronic design automation)?

by legalize＠xmission.com

We have the chips produced from earlier eras, but what attempts have been made to preserve the design tools from those earlier eras? Schematic Capture PCB Layout Netlist Tools IC transistor-level design IC gate-level design etc. I know several of you out there have microprocessor development environments from Intel and TI, IIRC. Ditto for things like PROM programmers. What about the design software? I imagine the first generation of EDA software was created in-house by pioneers of VLSI design. But what about when the tools started to become commodities? What about early releases of software from a company like Mentor Graphics? -- "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, 6 months

TI Silent 700 models

by sethm＠loomcom.com

I have two TI Silent 700s, both claim to be model 743 KSRs. One of them only produces upper case. The other does lower case with small caps. Did any model Silent 700 ever do "true" lower-case, with descenders and ascenders, as opposed to small-caps only? -Seth

19 years, 6 months

Needed: Tape drive for reading DC300 and DC600 tapes (SCSI?)

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

I've got a stack of DC300 and DC600 tapes which I'd like to get images, for archiving. I'd like to find a SCSI drive which can read the tapes, so I can archive them, and hopefully make images of some of them available (they're install media for the Intel iPSC/860, and ETA-10 supercomputers). Another option is to send tapes to someone to make images of, but I've got well over 100 tapes, and I'm not quite sure if any of them have data that shouldn't be made available (other than the source code tapes, which I may not be able to make available). After this, I'm hoping to make available whatever I can (I also have some 9-tracks of install media for the ETA-10 and CDC Cyber 205). Pat -- Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

19 years, 6 months

I/O Selectric Typewriter

by rickb＠bensene.com

Billy Pettit wrote: >Many of the computer systems of the 1960's and and early 70's used the IBM >Selectric typewriter as a console device. A few even used it as a >peripheral ... Another source, although not exactly the same as a Selectric I/O, is the Wang Model 611/711 Input/Output writer. This was a rather standard IBM Selectric 72 modified by Wang with solenoids and various switches, which interfaced with a Wang 600 or 700-Series calculator, and provided full input/output capabilities. Like Selectric I/O's, these devices aren't common, but they add to the search base. The solenoids controlled the tilt/rotate action of the typeball, key activation, index, carriage return, tab set, tab clear, tab, and backspace. The interface used Wang-proprietary character codes, but was a very simple parallel interface. Datasheet at http://oldcalculatormuseum.com/a-wang711.html Rick Bensene The Old Calculator Web Museum http://oldcalculatormuseum.com

19 years, 6 months

History of EDA (electronic design automation)?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Did anyone salvage any of the very expensive hardware simulators of > the mid 80's? Mentor and Valid both had systems which could integrate actual parts into a software simulation (Valid's was called RealChip). The largest of these sorts of things were seas of Xilix FPGAs that attemtpted to simulate entire designs. The software wasn't very good, and while they simulated the design a few orders of magnitude faster than software simulators, they still were not very fast. One of these showed up at BDI this past year, with absolutely no interest from bidders. I worked on MacOS bootstrapping of both the G3 at Somerset and the Exponential BiCMOS processors on those.

19 years, 6 months

vt52 7x7 font?

by brad＠heeltoe.com

Any chance anyone has the VT52 7x7 font in some digital form? (the actual prom would be nice but I doubt anyone has pulled the chip) -brad

19 years, 6 months

BASF 6114 disk drive

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Do you have a picture of it? I picture would be useful. If it's from Dortmund, I don't seem to have a picture of it. The 2311 drives I've been able to identify from the pics were made by are CDC, Century Data, and Memorex. > http://toresbe.at.ifi.uio.no/nd560-unproc.jpeg The 9766 is the drive with the pack on top. There is a CDC FSD drive directly below that. Someone at CHM is currently writing a history of the SMD interface for the mass storage SIG. The interface appears to originate with the 80mb 9762 and 40mb 9760 in 1973. Formatted capacity can vary on a number of factors, including number of sectors per track.

19 years, 6 months

I/O Selectric Typewriter

by Billy.Pettit＠wdc.com

Many of the computer systems of the 1960's and and early 70's used the IBM Selectric typewriter as a console device. A few even used it as a peripheral (ex. IBM 2741). The typewriters were not standard office machines. They had a series of switches indicating status, key strike, end of line, etc. They also had solenoids on the control bars, and a timing distributor. I've been looking for one of these modified Selectrics for several months. Does anyone in this group have one they would be willing to sell or trade? Or knows where one is available? Billy

19 years, 6 months

SDS/XDS Programming Consoles [was: PDP-11/70 Panel brought back to life]

by elf＠ucsd.edu

> I own XDS (SDS) Sigma 9 Panel and brought it back to life. > It was quite an undertaking, as the panel consists of about > 100 lamps -- and hand wiring all of them took quite a bit of > labor. > It now blinks -- in some sort of random "computing" fashion > -- but is essentially a useless piece of eye-candy when it > comes to being a useful computer (after all, I don't have > anything else except the programming console). But I must > admit, it is a pretty sight watching all those blinkenlights > flicker on and off :-) > I also own an SDS 940 programming console -- but I've chosen > to leave that untouched (a dead soul, if you will). > -Eric > P.S. -- I'd post a video of it in action, but I don't own > a video camera (I'll have to borrow one). I did take a bunch > of snapshots in succession and piece them together -- kind of > a kludge -- but you get an idea of what it looks like after > watching it. Not nearly as nice if it were a smooth video though. > If anyone is interested, and I can get around to it, I'll post > a picture or two, and the "piecemeal" video on a website in > the (maybe near) future. I put up a few snapshots of my XDS Sigma 9 Console in action, and a snapshot of my XDS "dead" SDS 940 Console. I chose not to put up the kludged "snapshot video" of the XDS Sigma 9 Console just because it really doesn't do justice to what it looks like when it comes to life. Anyway, if interested, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27979878 at N00/ -Eric

19 years, 6 months

PDP-11/70 Panel brought back to life

by Lee.Courtney＠windriver.com

Yes - both the consoles pictured were modified Selectrics used as consoles for the 910 and 920. Which is interesting as SDS went to a EBCDIC teletype for the Sigma series. Lee Courtney Product Line Manager - Linux for Consumer Devices Wind River 500 Wind River Way Alameda, California 94501 Office: 510-749-2763 Cell: 650-704-3934 Yahoo IM: charlesleecourtney > -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Richard > Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 2:07 PM > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Cc: Eric Flanzbaum > Subject: Re: PDP-11/70 Panel brought back to life > > > In article > <19F49A6EFCA3D849A4C1C46C3566EBF2010A1C00 at ALA-MAIL03.corp.ad.wrs.com>, > "Courtney, Lee" <Lee.Courtney at windriver.com> writes: > > > The Computer History Museum recently acquired a SDS 910, 920, and > > accepted donation of a SDS 930 (940 predecessor) from > History San Jose. > > See pics at > > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/lee_courtney/sets/72157594391790915/ and > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/lee_courtney/sets/72157594391722530/. > > Interesting! Is the console typewriter (the red one) a > modified IBM Selectric? > -- > "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, 6 months

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