test-drb

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101090 discussions

by Billy.Pettit＠wdc.com

Chuck Guzis wrote: Plowing through very short records (physical blocks) on an old drive makes all sorts of interesting noise, too as the drive stops and starts in the IRGs. I remember running a particular COBOL acceptance test on CDC 607's that you could hear in the next county... Cheers, Chuck --------------------------- It was wonderful wasn't it? And on the batch programs, all the attached tapes would rewind at the end of a job. You could feel the noise with your feet on the raised floor. I think the ulitmate was one night at CERN. Some jackass was playing and rewound all 36 tape drives at the same time. CERN was running the 1" 627's at the time. People went streaming out of the computer room. The idiot was banned from the 6600 permanently. Billy

19 years, 7 months

Apple Macintosh LC complete offered

by wpileggi＠juno.com

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19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by Billy.Pettit＠wdc.com

Chuck Guzis wrote: I suspect that the Japanese printer makers were pressed to come out with a better product because of the need for higher print resolution when printing Kanji characters. Cheers, Chuck ------------------------------- Absolutely. That was certainly the case when I worked at Fujitsu. The 9 wire printers were only sold in the US, weren't considered good enough for Japan. 24 wire was standard in Japan for a few years before being sold in the US. And it was one of the driving forces to develp the laser printer technology. Japan had to have the finer resolution. I think that even today, most laser engines are developed in Japan and OEM'd out. Billy

19 years, 7 months

Collections of (physically) large computers

by vp＠drexel.edu

sorry I couldn't resist ... ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote: > I think the distinction I normally use is often called 'keeper'. That's a > pun on 'Key Per Function' meaning a calcultor has, say, a key labelled > 'SIN', whereas on a computer you spell it out. Byt that definition the > HP41 is a calculator (although you _can_ spell out the function names if > you want to), the HP9830 most vertainly isn't. so what does this make the Sinclair ZX-80, ZX-81 and Spectrum systems? (I am not even sure you *could* type in the commands, I think you *had* to press the appropriate function key). **vp

19 years, 7 months

Spectrums (was Re: Collections of (physically) large computers)

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

--- Adrian Graham <witchy at binarydinosaurs.co.uk> wr ote: > On 1/11/06 11:05, "Jules Richardson" > <julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > > >> You do. It saved them having to fit a tokenisin g > routine into the ROM. > > > > to nit-pick: > > > > a) didn't the later Spectrums (128, +2, +3) with > '128 BASIC' let you type the > > commands without the keyword system? > > Yep, from the Investronica 128 (the first > 'toastrack' edition with the Big > Metal Heatsink?) to the +3, 128 mode let you just > type and make your own > mistakes. > Yes, you could type the keywords, but no you couldn't make mistakes (atleast, not on my Spectrum 128 +2) as you were forced to correct any syntax errors before you could type in the next line of BASIC. Or atleast that's the case for 128K BASIC. I never used the 48K BASIC mode. >> snip << > > Heck, back to Spectrums, I remember that the +2 > had a built-in calculator > > application... (what were the other main menu > options? 128 BASIC, Spectrum > > BASIC, Calculator, but I'm sure there was at lea st > one other) > > Tape tester..... > Err. not on my Spectrum. From top to bottom it was: Loader (load in tape games - equivalent to typing Load "", IIRC) 128K BASIC Calculator 48K BASIC > -- > Adrian/Witchy > Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator > Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest priva te > home computer > collection? > > For the record I still have my Spectrum in it's original box. I had the light gun games 6-pack version sold in the early 90's. The games were: Robot Attack Operation Wolf (published by Ocean) Missile Ground Zero Bullseye ? (some target range in the wild with 4 levels?) Toy Bizarre My mum, however, put it somewhere "safe" sometime last year. It has the SNES game Super Mario World (with all 96 levels accessed) in with it too which I wanted to play earlier this year to a) recharge the battery back-up and b) cause it's great fun to play. Needless to say we couldn't find it :( The Spectrum manual, thankfully, is on my shelf here in my bedroom. I read it through thoroughly (start to finish) atleast twice in the early 90's as I wanted to make great games. Just as back then, I still have lot's of imagination and idea's for games and software. Thanks to my Amiga and AMOS BASIC I have been able to realise some of them. I do have plenty more stuff to come :) Regards, Andrew B aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk

19 years, 7 months

COI Linc Tape II

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I can't seem to find any docs on this unit and it's unibus controller. Anyone have docs I could copy or better yet, electronic format? Thanks! Jay

19 years, 7 months

Large Peripherals on Large Systems (was Re: Discussion of large systems)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 11/1/06, Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote: > I agree, which is why I started collecting in two areas: serial > terminals and graphics boxes. "Graphics boxes" includes things like > dial boxes, button boxes and graphics tablets and even plotters. Cool. I've always been fascinated by dial boxes and button boxes, but, DECUS aside, never got the chance to play with many. I know they were big with SGI systems, but my experiences tended to run to DEC and Sun more than SGI. (here's an ASCIIfied doc I found on the VAX 8000 dial box - very cool... now I want one ;-) http://deathrow.vistech.net/~cvisors/DEC94MDS/vsxdatm1.txt > However, I see things like large line printers and other such early > printing peripherals seem to be rare. They only seem to appear in > people's collections if they were part of a big bundle. I have a LP05-type line printer and several smaller DEC printers (LA-180, LA36...) The LP05 is awaiting some attention, but my first LA-180 saw a lot of use its first few years... I bought it from Newman Computer Exchange in the mid-1980s to hang off of my PDP-8/a when they sent me a "free shipping on your next order" coupon. I looked through their catalog and picked out the heaviest item I thought I could get some use out of. A few days later, a van shows up with a palletized printer. Fortunately for me, a couple of years later, I got a contract job writing PDP-11 software and really _needed_ that printer (and equally fortunately, the $300 PDP-11/23 I picked up to do the work already had an LPV11 installed). I can't say that I had as much need for a true line printer fifteen years later, but they are cool to watch work. > Any other peripheral collectors out there? I collect CPUs _and_ peripherals, if that counts. -ethan

19 years, 7 months

M9312 boot roms

by jwest＠ezwind.net

To all who wanted M9312 boot roms burned, I've completed that today. I'll have them out in the mail by the end of the week. Expect an email after they are sent with total cost. Jay

19 years, 7 months

A question regarding floppy drives functionality..

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: A question regarding floppy drives functionality.. > From: Marian Capel <marian.capel at bluewin.ch> > Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 18:26:22 +0100 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Since this list has a number of people that are very knowledgable on the >subject : > >Am i correct in thinking that, given a custom FDC, i could run a modern >1.44 floppy in FM mode, and at much lower data rates i.e. (say 50 KHz.) ? You may not be able to run that slow but you could test by recording square waves of varying frequencies and look at what comes back. >Background : I am musing on how to give a small amount of storage, say >around 100kb, to a very small low tech cpu. >I do not care about speed and efficiency. Myself for 100k I'd use a EEprom. Eprom or even 128k ram with a battery. >I am aware that IDE-based solutions are simpler, both hard- and software >wise, but I would prefer a floppy based solution. FYI the slowest floppies are the oldest 5.25 like the SA400 and TM100 as they will reach down to 64khz, I did some testing once. I'd suspect some of the later 360k drives would do well (slow data) too. I do know that most of the 360k drives work fine at FM (single density) data rates (125khz). Allison

19 years, 7 months

dec /34a issue

by jwest＠ezwind.net

I just brought up my /34a and apparently it's sick. It has one DD11-PK. Configuration is as follows: 1 - M8266 (A-F) 2 - M8265 (A-F) 3 - M9312 (A-B), M7859 (C-F) 4 - M7891 (A-F) 5 - Grant (D) 6 - Grant (D) 7 - Grant (D) 8 - Grant (D) 9 - M9302 (A-B), Grant (D) What works: Storing & retreiving various patterns from ram via the front panel works fine in all cases. Looping on CLR PC loops as expected Looping on BR . loops as expected Trap catcher works (first pass halts at 1030 filling ram, then a BR . loops as expected). The memory address test program fails though. It halts at 246 indicating a memory addressing error. R1 points to 422. Examining memory via the front panel shows the following: 420 420 422 177355 424 177353 426 177351 430 177347 So it looks to me like it is able to store 420 in 420, but nothing after that. I would normally think there is a problem with the memory board (M7891). However, I have replaced that board with 2 others, and all 3 boards fail at the same address AND with the same values. I find that likely to rule out the memory board as really being bad. In addition, I can deposit and examine values to locations 420 through 430 via the front panel just fine. It's my understanding that the KY11-LB puts data in memory via the unibus, so I would think this makes it somewhat unlikely to be a backplane issue. Is it a strong likelyhood that the problem is the cpu set itself then, as that's what would be writing the values to memory during the address test? And as I type this, I just noticed something interesting. The numbers stored in ram at 422 through 430 are the right numbers, just inverted logic. More specifically if you invert all the bits in 177355 you get 422, if you invert all the bits in 177353 you get 424, inverting 177351 gives 426 (all the latter values being what I'd expect). I'm guessing there's a dead inverter on the cpu set somewhere perhaps? But if that's the case, why does 420 get set to 420 correctly?? Any advice is most appreciated :) Jay West

19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Now that you have the only purely German mainframe (TR-440), is there any > software with it, like BSM or PS440 or TEXAS etc.? Any software for the > Zuse machines? CHM won't have the machines until early December. The material on the TR 440 that I've put up on bitsavers was from the existing corporate archive. There is one entire container of documentation and software, and there were Telefunken tapes and documentation there. A simulation would be an obvious thing to attempt. It will be difficult to do here, though, since most of the documentation will be in German.

19 years, 7 months

Printer Heads: How To Clean Without Wasting Ink

by safehaus＠webhart.net

Hi Is there a way to clean printer heads from the outside, rather than allowing so much ink to be wasted by the machine blowing the ink through the heads to clean them. (This must be in a FAQ. I just need to be pointed to where this has been discussed a thousand times already.) A bit of background: I have an Epson CX6600 printer/scanner that has suddenly quit printing. The company sent the machine to me to replace an earlier model that developed the same problem. Maybe this machine has the same problem, or maybe it just needs head a more aggressive cleaning. I've "blown the jets" a few times, using over half the ink in the cartridges to do it, and the machine still barely leaves an image on the paper. (I keep a towel over my printers when I don't use them, and no one smokes in the house.) I'm hoping to avoid taking the time to crate and ship this machine as well. I'm not really interested in another replacement anyway. Thanks in advance for any help. Greg P.

19 years, 7 months

EBCDIC

by Billy.Pettit＠wdc.com

Zane H. Healy wrote: You mean you don't have how to create your own EBCDIC table memorized? I memorized it over 16 years ago, and oddly enough I still remember it. Zane Sorry. I grew up in the world of BCD and 6 bit characters. CDC finally started cutting in ASCII in the late 60's, but with little enthusiasm. EBCDIC is something I only encounter when restoring old IBM et al machines. And even then, usually it is just the codes that were perverted into vendor unique control characters that I have to question. Billy

19 years, 7 months

dude...yer gettin' a Dell

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

or it's progenitor rather: http://cgi.ebay.com/Collectible-Personal-Computer-PCs-Limited-brand_W0QQite… funny, you can get a new Dell for less cash though. Ouch. And that appears to be a goofy Tandy monitor sitting atop. Don't that really sweeten the pot. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business (http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com)

19 years, 7 months

More ePay items

by cclist＠sydex.com

If anyone's interested, I've just listed a NIB Micro Solutions 3.5" Backpack drive and a NIB CompatiCard IV for auction. Thanks, Chuck

19 years, 7 months

A question regarding floppy drives functionality..

by marian.capel＠bluewin.ch

Since this list has a number of people that are very knowledgable on the subject : Am i correct in thinking that, given a custom FDC, i could run a modern 1.44 floppy in FM mode, and at much lower data rates i.e. (say 50 KHz.) ? Background : I am musing on how to give a small amount of storage, say around 100kb, to a very small low tech cpu. I do not care about speed and efficiency. I am aware that IDE-based solutions are simpler, both hard- and software wise, but I would prefer a floppy based solution. Jos Dreesen

19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by wacarder＠earthlink.net

>>Surviving systems from before 1975 are very rare animals, esp mainframes, >>since so many of them have been scrapped for precious metals. Sadly, there >>is even less software that has survived. CHM didn't start seriously >>collecting documentation nor software prior to the move to the West Coast in >>the 90's. While they have an impressive collection of hardware, and a pretty >>decent collection of US computer documentation now, the software holdings >>pre 1975 are minimal. How many 1970s era or earlier mainframes are actually up and running (or in working condition) somewhere? I have not really followed mainframe collecting, although I did work on IBM 370 and 30xx mainframes in the 1980s. Ashley

19 years, 7 months

Collections of (physically) large computers

by cctech＠retro.co.za

Hi Jules and all >I suppose my Acorn System One is probably my smallest system - two Eurocards, Sharp PC 1500. Used it while studying. Had all my formulas in there, from integration to hex conversion. "Tricked it out" by adding a 32K ram on a PCB in the place of the normal 16K memory module. I have the manuals to program the thing in assembler so it definitely counts as a computer not a programmable calculator (I do regard the smaller Sharp jobbies as glorified calculators even if they have BASIC and a full mini-keyboard. W

19 years, 7 months

RX02 Controller Boards available

by stimpy.u.idiot＠gmail.com

I've got 3 16"x9" (approx) boards here, 2 of which are RX02 related, the other I'm not so sure. The first 2: M7744 RX02 Floppy Disk Controller M7745 RX02 R/W Control . The 3rd, covered in (mostly) 74xxx logic with 5 berg connectors, no DEC style letter+4 digit code, just the words 'DRIVE LOGIC' screened onto side 2. No idea if they are working boards. As I don't have any other kit they might conceivably be useful for, all are free to anyone prepared to cover postage, bear in mind I'm in Chester, UK. Cheers, Pete -- Pete Edwards "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future" - Niels Bohr

19 years, 7 months

Anyone near Goddard Space Flight Center? (Greenbelt, MD)

by legalize＠xmission.com

This VT50 needs rescuing! <http://sales.gsfc.nasa.gov/web/sales/dsp_viewByCatalog.cfm?sSaleNumber=8032…> <http://sales.gsfc.nasa.gov/web/images/lots/80322620070013/lot019.jpg> These seem to be pretty rare these days, whereas VT-100's are fairly common. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>

19 years, 7 months

Collections of (physically) small computers

by josefcub＠gmail.com

On 10/29/06, Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > :-) > I suppose my Acorn System One is probably my smallest system - two Eurocards, > about 100 x 160 x 30mm in size, complete with built-in keypad, display, tape, > and expansion interfaces. > > My Sinclair ZX81 is probably next - but of course lacks a display so needs a > TV in order to really be useful... > > cheers > > Jules > Would my Microchip PIC18F1320s count? They're 18-pin DIP packages with built-in serial port (USART), RAM, EEPROM data storage... But of course it requires a tiny amount of support circuitry and a PC to burn useful software onto it. (I did, however, have one hooked up to a terminal to play Tic Tac Toe, though ;) My actual smallest whole computer are probably my Apple Newton MessagePads (OMP, 110, or 130). Second to that is my Dauphin DTR-1 with keyboard and pen, and the last of the complete small systems are probably my Epson PX-8s, and my TRS-80 Model 100s. I miss my Timex Sinclair 1000. Poor thing got stepped on by a careless friend one day... Josef -- "I laugh because I dare not cry. This is a crazy world and the only way to enjoy it is to treat it as a joke." -- Hilda "Sharpie" Burroughs, "The Number of the Beast" by Robert A. Heinlein

19 years, 7 months

Question regarding floppy drive functionality.

by jos.mar＠bluewin.ch

19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

On 31 Oct, 2006, at 18:01, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > But when I think of mainframe I think of > processor + storage along with a bunch of terminals attached; both > of those > systems are more data processors (albeit general purpose ones) than > something > capable of supporting several human users. Except the older ones did not have terminals, sometimes not even for the operator. Surely anything which predates the Minicomputer is by definition a mainframe, unless it was designed as a peripheral processor rather than intended as a central processor. That would let out things like the CDC 1700 which is the first machine I learnt assembler code on as it was no longer needed to read cards and send the data to the main 6600 which was several miles away.

19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> The machine had no stack, so I wrote one for it, and > developed a stack oriented p-machine for it. Do you still have this? There is a version of SCOPE/Hustler running in simulation.

19 years, 7 months

HP 3000 Magnetic Tape

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Does anyone here have the necessary hardware > and software to read a magnetic tape in HP 3000 Store Format? I have the equipment to read the tape at the block level at the Museum. We are looking for early verions of MPE (that would run on Series II or III) as well.

19 years, 7 months

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