test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by staylor＠mrynet.com

Looking for documentation for the Dilog DU-686 Unibus ESDI controller. Anyone have scanned references for it, or possibly just able to forward me jumper and on-board configuration connection and set-up info? TIA, -scott staylor at smedley dot mrynet dot com

19 years, 8 months

cctech Digest, Vol 38, Issue 25

by Watzman＠neo.rr.com

Re: "I just built a new PC, I didn't even think about ports. I personally have very little use for Parallel ports, and am more interested in Serial ports. I didn't even think about it not having a Serial port until I was finishing putting the system together. At least it does have a header for a serial port on the Motherboard, I'll just have to find a port to connect to it (as that didn't come with the board). Oh, and the board does have a Parallel port." Let me guess: Asus P5B? I chose a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 instead of the P5B primarily for just that reason (the boards themselves are nearly identical). The P5B uses one of the two "standard" cables. Look on alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus about 60 days ago and you will find a discussion of this, along with the specs for the cable (there are two "standards" for this cable, different and incompatible, so you need to get the right one). I can't believe Asus' stupidity in not putting the DB-9 on the I/O shield OR at least in not including the cable to the header.

19 years, 8 months

SDS/XDS-940 (900 series)

by kahrs＠caip.rutgers.edu

I admit, I cut my teeth on that machine and so I continue to ask around for remaining tidbits. My friends at Tymshare don't have bits apparently and I wasn't around when the 940s went out the back door. Al K. has my copy of the monitor (kernel) listing; that could be OCR'ed but what about the executive and all the other stuff? But the real question is: What does MUL =12525253B do?

19 years, 8 months

8" disk archive

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> If anyone has any comments, please speak up. If the contents can be identified, consider some form of checksum per file. Eventually, as multiple copies of the same discs are found from different sources you can verify file integrity. If they are original distrib discs, checksums of the entire volume can be used for disc integrity (and for simple checks for viruses on newer media)

19 years, 8 months

Serial devices, analyzers, etc (was Re: PDT-11/150 down)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 10/18/06, Tothwolf <tothwolf at concentric.net> wrote: > I've never completely understood Black Box's business model. Some of the > adapters and cables they sell at a premium price are simply OEM'd products > with their own sticker/logo stuck on them. Did they offer some sort of > guarantee beyond what the manufacturer would have offered? If I understand their business model, they charged a premium, but what the customer gained was a single place to go (one catalog, one vendor to send POs to, etc), and some "big name" reassurance. In my experience, large companies deal with small companies poorly or not at all. If a small company comes up with a nice comms-related widget, they can try to sell it themselves with potentially mixed success, or sell quantities in black enclosures through Black Box and get instant exposure when the next catalog comes out. > I actually picked up an older but practically new serial analyzer on eBay > this last month for about $10. Its a Datacom Technologies DataTool 5500, > which is both an analyzer and a breakout box built into one unit. (Datacom > Technologies either became Tempo or got bought up by them, I can't > remember now.) I believe it only works up to 38400 baud or so, but it will > work great for most stuff that I work with. Wish I'd had it back in the > mid 90s though ;) I'm not familiar with that one. We had several analyzers (HP) and BERT boxes (bit error-rate tester?) when I worked at Software Results making sync comms hardware - fortunately I got to take my pick when the doors closed. I still have a bunch of that kit, and it's still useful since most of the gear does async as well as sync. If your analyzer only goes to 38Kbps, it's probably async only. Sync stuff I've worked with, tended to go up to 64Kbps or even 128Kbps (if it wasn't designed for T1-like connections). -ethan

19 years, 8 months

8" disk archive

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

--- Kelly Leavitt <kelly at catcorner.org> wrote: > I'm actually starting the archiving of the more > than 1,500 8" disks that I have. Here are my > intended methods. If anyone has any comments, plea se > speak up. > The ultimate goal is an online searchable database > of these disks. > > 1) number each diskette sequentially with date > 2) taking a digital picture of the label > 3) Making a catweasel image of the contents > 4) Makine an ImageDisk image of the contents > 5) Storing the following information in a database > Diskette number > Any text from the label > System if known > OS used if known > Date of origin if known > Description of contents > if commercial software, the publisher/author > Photo of the label > Both disk images > > Kelly > Sounds like you'll be busy for a long time with archiving all those disks. Do you have any ideas what you will call the site with the archive? Perhaps you should announce a beta version (when it's up and running) for us to test? I generally cataloge my 3.5" disks (mostly Amiga, some PC and a handful of Atari ST disks) so I can find programs I want fairly quickly. Having approx. 600 disks I really need to do that, otherwise I'd be searching for hours :( Regards, Andrew B aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk

19 years, 8 months

the last MIT ITS dec-20 (AI.MIT.EDU) is up for sale

by akb+lists.cctalk＠mirror.to

Chris Zach needs the space, so he's selling off his KS-10 (2020) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=011&item=320038687685 This machine was the last host to be named AI.MIT.EDU that ran ITS, and probably the last running DEC 10 or 20 at MIT (though that might have been MC). It comes with an ITS disk pack (and a drive). Might also have TOPS-20. Bidding is at $2k so far. --akb ps: AI, MC, and the hulk of a third 2020 which I think was BLT (Brave Little Toaster) were part of extensive hacker rescue efforts in the early 90s. They were schlepped out of MIT, sat at digex.net for a while until the VC-installed managers almost junked them, then CZ rescued them and has cared for them since. (I'm not sure what he's done with MC, BLT was mostly just the chassis and prolly got scrapped). In the auction photos, those small red tags next to the bar codes are the MIT "deactivated property" tags.

19 years, 8 months

Pinball machine available

by mouse＠Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA

Okay, it's not quite typical fodder for here, but it seems to me to be close enough to count as on-topic. Two friends of mine (okay, a friend and an acquaintance) have a pinball machine. But it's sitting in a barn and they'd like to get it in the hands of someone who'll use/appreciate it before winter hits (it's been there for a few months, but this would be its first winter). I've never seen it myself. Here's what I've been told: It's a "Data East Robocop" machine. No date apparent to the person who looked (whom I'd primed to look for a date). One piece of glass is shattered; from the description, it sounds to me like the backglass - the vertical glass with artwork in front of the scoring and status displays at the back of the machine. I'm told it's also functionally broken in some minor way, but the person who characterized the malfunction as "minor" is no pinball expert, so I have no idea how accurate the characterization is. I also have no better description of the malfunction. The machine is near Ottawa (Ontario, Canada). So, my questions: (1) is it worth anything in its current shape, or does the damage (and/or maltreatment) cut its value to the point where it's comparable to the cost of hauling it away? (2) anyone have more specific relevant questions that can be answered by someone not versed in pinball machines or electromech devices in general? Oh, and (3) anyone want it? :-) (I'd be tempted myself except I have no place to put it.) /~\ The ASCII der Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents.montreal.qc.ca / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

19 years, 8 months

Oregon Software Pascal/2 (24 bit words)

by sdc695＠yahoo.com

woodelf <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> Wrote: > Simon Fryer wrote: > > Heya, > > What ever happened to 24 bit words, or is this an easy case? > That is 3 8 bit char's. :) > I was thinking of Dec's machines and rememberd other brands later. > While 24 bit computers were made, I can't think of any off hand. > > Simon Yes, 24 bit machines did exist. In fact before BSD, there was project Genie which made an SDS 930 into an SDS 940 (added paging hardware) and made up a timesharing system. It was the basis of the Tymshare corporation which was formed in the 60's. The machine had (IIRC) 64k of 24 bit words, paged in chunks of 4k words. The technique used what they called "relabeling registers" on the upper 8 bits of the memory address. The software had all sorts of things, including 'forks'. All before Unix (1969). Quite a system for its day. It was the competition to the GE 235 (Later 635) machines that started at Dartmouth. In the early 70's they had a whole bunch of machines in Cupertino under one roof. As for strings: They packed 3 to a word (usually). Trivia: 'BRS 131B' was the system call to crash the system. Just so you know. -- Tom Watson tsw at johana.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

19 years, 8 months

machine emulation

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

and was I tempted. O was I tempted. I could have been o so creative with the spelling of the first word in the subject line... I guess the question on many peep's mind is whether a utilization of virtual-8086 mode could be used to creative an emulation of something peecee-like (Tandy 2000 maybe?). I need to do some reading. Maybe should have done it first. I hope this isn't off-topic :O __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

19 years, 8 months

Digital Systems Corporation

by brian＠quarterbyte.com

Hi Jim, What a coincidence -- we just got a lengthy email from Wayne Farmer in the ibm1130.org guestbook, who also talked about working with the that same Meta IV (production serial #1 in fact), at UC San Diego, and he described working with these very microcode ROMs. Hey, are you planning on coming to the Vintage Computer Festival in Mountain View, CA in November? If you are it would be great if you could bring this microcode board with you to show off at the IBM 1130 party which will be held Saturday evening during the VCF. Brian

19 years, 8 months

RS-232 Obsolescence (was PDT-11/150 down)

by Watzman＠neo.rr.com

-----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of cctech-request at classiccmp.org Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 1:08 PM To: cctech at classiccmp.org Subject: cctech Digest, Vol 38, Issue 24 Send cctech mailing list submissions to cctech at classiccmp.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctech or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to cctech-request at classiccmp.org You can reach the person managing the list at cctech-owner at classiccmp.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of cctech digest..." Today's Topics: 1. German collection (was Software Archaeology) (Al Kossow) 2. Re: PDT-11/150 down (Dave McGuire) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 08:53:05 -0700 From: Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> Subject: German collection (was Software Archaeology) To: "classiccmp at classiccmp.org" <classiccmp at classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <C15A4A71.85F0%aek at bitsavers.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > It's a shame that all this went to the US Re: "I guess this all means that RS232C has fallen into the category of "obsolescent technology"." Some brand new JVC DLP 1080P TV sets have a control interface (this is only present in some of the newest, highest end models) that allows the TV to be controlled by {presumably} a media center PC. It's RS-232. These TV sets were only introduced this spring. Why it's not USB is beyond me, but it's not.

19 years, 8 months

8" disk archive

by billdeg＠degnanco.com

Comment: - This is what preserving the history of computers is all about. Plug forward! Bill D >------------------------------ > >Message: 29 >Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:05:55 -0400 >From: "Kelly Leavitt" <kelly at catcorner.org> >Subject: 8" disk archive >To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >Message-ID: > <07028839E9A3744F87BEF27FF2CFF8E30B13FD at MEOW.catcorner.org> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > >I'm actually starting the archiving of the more than 1,500 8" disks that >I have. Here are my intended methods. If anyone has any comments, please >speak up. >The ultimate goal is an online searchable database of these disks. > >1) number each diskette sequentially with date >2) taking a digital picture of the label >3) Making a catweasel image of the contents >4) Makine an ImageDisk image of the contents >5) Storing the following information in a database >Diskette number >Any text from the label >System if known >OS used if known >Date of origin if known >Description of contents >if commercial software, the publisher/author >Photo of the label >Both disk images > >Kelly >

19 years, 8 months

German collection (was Software Archaeology)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> It's a shame that all this went to the US Not all of this has gone to the US. If there is a single coordinated effort there to save the remaining material, that would be great. I would suggest coordinating this with Doron. There are a number of GA and DEC minis, a System3 and System7 for example that need to be saved. > Will I be able to get copies of all the software and/or documentation? Do you have any idea of how much 1 1/2 shipping containers worth of docs and software is? I will try to make as much material as I can available, as I have been with other things in the CHM collection, but this may literally take years to do.

19 years, 8 months

8" disk archive

by kelly＠catcorner.org

I'm actually starting the archiving of the more than 1,500 8" disks that I have. Here are my intended methods. If anyone has any comments, please speak up. The ultimate goal is an online searchable database of these disks. 1) number each diskette sequentially with date 2) taking a digital picture of the label 3) Making a catweasel image of the contents 4) Makine an ImageDisk image of the contents 5) Storing the following information in a database Diskette number Any text from the label System if known OS used if known Date of origin if known Description of contents if commercial software, the publisher/author Photo of the label Both disk images Kelly

19 years, 8 months

PSU Capacitors

by tpeters＠mixcom.com

Look for a swap (amateur radio) otherwise know as a hamfest. They have them all over the place at various times of the year. I usually see big caps that look relatively new for a decent price. This might help you locate a swap in your area: http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.html?dosel=1&subtype=section&selsect=MI 73 de N9QQB At 03:31 PM 10/16/2006 -0700, you wrote: >I've got a couple of old DEC machines which look like they could use new >filter capacitors in the power supplies: I tried reforming the originals, >and in some cases it worked, but there are also a few which look like >they'll never see full capacity again. > >These are electrolytics, with 160,000mf/20v/24v surge and 57,000mf/50v/65v >surge being the original values. > >Soooo here's my two questions: > >-Where would you recommend buying new ones? Anyone have a capacitor vendor >they're particularly fond of (or particularly loathe)? > >-Does it make better sense to replace these with electrolytics, and have >the same characteristics (and the same problems over time) as the >originals, or is there some more modern cap-technology which would give >the original's performance but with a better lifespan? > >I'm not up on my capacitor technology. :) Any help or suggestions >would be welcome. Thanks! > > -O.- [Computing] C++ is to C as Lung Cancer is to Lung --.sig of Thomas Funke (thomas at gamelan.shnet.org) --... ...-- -.. . -. ----. --.- --.- -... tpeters at nospam.mixcom.com (remove "nospam") N9QQB (amateur radio) "HEY YOU" (loud shouting) WEB ADDRESS http//www.mixweb.com/tpeters 43? 7' 17.2" N by 88? 6' 28.9" W, Elevation 815', Grid Square EN53wc WAN/LAN/Telcom Analyst, Tech Writer, MCP, CCNA, Registered Linux User 385531

19 years, 8 months

OT, tool: NI ISA Analyser card on ebay - looks like no software

by rdbrown＠pacific.net.au

The card doesn't appear to ship with the NI analyser software, which NI is still selling at USD99. http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/10624

19 years, 8 months

OT, tool: HP-IB == IEEE 488 bus sniffer ISA card on ebay

by rdbrown＠pacific.net.au

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220038281851&fromMakeTra… National Instruments AT-GPIB/TNT+ IEEE 488.2 182785E-01 If this is the same as the card below, the analyser software which can sniff the bus, runs under Windows 95, 98 & ME, capturing HP-IB bus traffic into the PC memory. http://cgi.ebay.com/National-Instruments-AT-GPIB-TNT-GPIB-Analyzer_W0QQitem… The following is the beginning of an HP150 boot from a 9133 drive, captured with a TNT+ using the NI Analyser and formatted to text. Capture Stimulus : Data, Command, Control, Handshake, Parallel Poll Handshake Rate : None ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ M Timestamp Data Control mi s ms us ns A H 87654321 E A S R I NR ND D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- -- -- 80 10000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 47 950 80 10000000 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 ATN^ REN^ IFC^ 0 0 0 0 100 bf 10111111 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 NDAC^ 0 0 71 571 200 bf 10111111 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 IFCv 0 0 719 102 550 bf 10111111 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 ATNv 0 0 0 0 150 0 00000000 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 NDACv 0 0 0 2 950 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 RENv 0 0 0 48 350 0 00000000 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 ATN^ REN^ IFC^ 0 0 0 0 100 bf 10111111 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 NDAC^ 0 0 71 571 50 bf 10111111 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 IFCv 0 0 5 565 800 94 10010100 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 ??? DAV^ 0 0 0 0 300 94 10010100 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 NRFD^ 0 0 0 0 350 94 10010100 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 NDACv 0 0 0 0 100 94 10010100 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 DAVv 0 0 0 0 100 94 10010100 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 NDAC^ 0 0 0 0 50 94 10010100 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 NRFDv 0 0 0 136 900 94 10010100 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 PP-B EOI^ 0 0 0 0 100 0 00000000 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 PP-R NDACv 0 0 0 1 900 0 00000000 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 PP-R NDAC^ 0 0 0 6 900 0 00000000 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 PP-R NDACv 0 0 49 51 400 80 10000000 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 PP-R 0 0 0 16 250 80 10000000 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 PP-E EOIv 0 0 0 0 100 80 10000000 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 NDAC^ 0 0 0 108 450 df 11011111 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 ??? DAV^ 0 0 0 0 300 df 11011111 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 NRFD^ 0 0 0 0 350 df 11011111 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 NDACv 0 0 0 0 100 df 11011111 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 DAVv 0 0 0 0 100 df 11011111 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 NDAC^ 0 0 0 0 50 df 11011111 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 NRFDv

19 years, 8 months

Software Archaeology (was Oregon Software Pascal/2 (24 bit words))

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> As you're more aware than (probably) anyone at > this point, software archaeology is exceedingly difficult. The thing to do is just keep asking anyone who was connected to the industry if they know folks like field serivce techs that were pack rats. The companies themselves either deliberately threw it out so that they wouldn't have to support it, or the physical assets were tossed out when companies were sold. The fact that the SDS 900 series library survived mostly in tact after being given away by Honeywell in 1982 gives me hope that people may have similar stashes somewhere. -- Somewhat related, a CHM press release just went out with this info in it: In support of its international collection and exhibit plans, the Museum also announced that it has acquired an extensive collection totaling seven shipping containers of computing objects salvaged from a crumbling warehouse in Dortmund, Germany this month. The rescued items, along with related documents and software, will augment the Museum?s existing 80,000-object collection that will be used to populate the 2009 exhibit. The historic collection from Germany was rescued from an open-air warehouse that encompassed a physical area of about 12,000 square feet. There are 112 unique manufacturers represented, including Telefunken, Siemens, Zuse, Olivetti and Groupe Bull. European-based manufacturers account for 50% of the acquired artifacts and another 20% in documentation and software. In addition to many rare computer systems, the rescued items will deepen the Museum?s holdings of electromechanical-era objects, as well as mainframe documentation and software. -- The container with documentation and software should be getting here in about a month. From the pictures, there are some very interesting things coming. This was partly from the computer museum which closed in Achen.

19 years, 8 months

Slightly OT: Sony Typecorder

by evan＠snarc.net

Anybody have one of these? It's an electronic word processor from 1980. It looks similar to the Epson HX-20 (microcassette drive, same "slate" form factor, etc.), but it's just a WP, not a full computer.

19 years, 8 months

Documents for memory board

by dundas＠caltech.edu

I hope someone recognizes this board and can help locate some documentation for it. It is apparently a PDP-11 Unibus MOS memory board with parity(?). The details are, it says Standard Memories, Applied Magnetics-Trendata, MM-135. A scan is available here: <http://dundas-mac.caltech.edu/~dundas/retro/DEC%20Docs/Board%20scans/Unibus…> The reverse side is: <http://dundas-mac.caltech.edu/~dundas/retro/DEC%20Docs/Board%20scans/Unibus…> Any documentation or other pointer would be very helpful. Thanks, John

19 years, 8 months

MAYA 1.0 for Unix available (1998?)

by tosteve＠gmail.com

Hi, I have this CD pack - MAYA 1.0 (1998?) that I dont' need/want. This is from Alias/wavefront - a Silicon Graphics company. It's yours for like $5 or so. Includes these three CDs in a case: --MAYA 1.0 (MAYA F/X, MAYA Artisan, MAYA Developers kit) --Composer 4.5 --Discover MAYA It may not run on your system! Some info here: http://www.alias.com/eng/support/maya/qualified_hardware/QUAL/maya_1_0.html

19 years, 8 months

Digital Systems Corporation

by jwstephens＠msm.umr.edu

I am moving stuff out of my warehouse to storage, and am finding all sorts of nifty toys. One is a rom from a pretty old mini or mainframe, which is badged Digital Systems Corporation. It is "alterable" much like I understand the 360/20's were with boards that were used to program sense arrays, and could be altered in the field to change the firmware. As I mention in the web page, I have little information on it, and retrieved it as a close friend was downsizeing his collection of stuff many years ago. I don't know that he obtained it from a working machine, but we both agreed that a packrat like me would be better suited for it than he was, as he wanted to just have less stuff. I was very fortunate to know a few that were downsizeing to me rather than the land fill (and am working with one now). Anyway, maybe someone will have some comment on the company name or logo. I apologize for the current photos, I will try to scan or get better resolution photos of the label and post it, or follow up this on the list. I get nothing on any site that is of any use, as the three words that the company chose for itself may as well be "smith" "jones" or any word with millions or billions of hits, and nothing recent other than companies in Japan and Costa Rica (both unlikely to be useful) Jim http://jwstephens.com/rom/page_01.htm

19 years, 8 months

PSU Capacitors

by ohh＠drizzle.com

I've got a couple of old DEC machines which look like they could use new filter capacitors in the power supplies: I tried reforming the originals, and in some cases it worked, but there are also a few which look like they'll never see full capacity again. These are electrolytics, with 160,000mf/20v/24v surge and 57,000mf/50v/65v surge being the original values. Soooo here's my two questions: -Where would you recommend buying new ones? Anyone have a capacitor vendor they're particularly fond of (or particularly loathe)? -Does it make better sense to replace these with electrolytics, and have the same characteristics (and the same problems over time) as the originals, or is there some more modern cap-technology which would give the original's performance but with a better lifespan? I'm not up on my capacitor technology. :) Any help or suggestions would be welcome. Thanks! -O.-

19 years, 8 months

Lightning Damage (was: Re: DOS answering machine ??? )

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 12:00 -0500 10/16/06, Roy Tellason wrote: >That was my way to do dialup for a while here until it got weird after a >storm. This seems to be a recurring theme in posts here. At least here in the central US, thunderstorms are pretty predictable. I have made it SOP for over a decade now to just disconnect classic gear from the wall when one is known to be approaching. (I even have the family trained to do it if I'm not around; it helps that we and our relatives have lost several TV's, stereos, modems, etc. to lightning strikes, so it's not just a theoretical possibility.) I recommend: 1) Plug all of the classic gear into power strips or surge suppressors. Plug the surge suppressors into the wall for normal use, and shut down/unplug the surge suppressor from the wall for storms. 2) Leave commodity stuff connected, if it's convenient. DSL hubs can be disconnected from the wall (and cable or phone line!) or can be left connected, with the ethernet coming out of them disconnected for duration of the storm. Cheapo modern ink-jet printers can be left connected to the wall, but disconnected from the classic computer or classic network. Nice Laserjet 4MP printers, etc. should be disconnected from the wall. 3) Wireless, where practical, makes disconnecting the network easy. A single wireless/ethernet hub, using radio to get to the wall-connected DSL/cablemodem hub, might be a *great* way to air-gap the whole classic network. That would reduce the storm-proofing operation down to a single wall plug (for the power strip). 4) Exercise the same precautions for winter storms - power line outages/restoration of power can do unpredictable things to line voltage and frequency. 5) Do not trust surge suppressors to do the job, either on power lines or on modem/cable lines. They help, but they have limitations. Some a lot more than others. 6) For stuff that is really hard to re-boot, UPS's can help if they are big enough. Disconnect the UPS from the wall and live with the alarm until the thunder dies down (but this assumes a big battery on the UPS, which might not be realistic). I know server stuff that wants to be up 24/7 is hard to do this with, but for really classic equipment, or for anything that's used on-demand (like Roy's modem), it really seems a shame to expose it to ESD death for want of a minute's work walking around the house and pulling plugs. My worst loss so far (knock on wood) has been a Powerbook 3400 internal modem board (visible damage on the board, pictures available on request). But I've been lucky a few times. Comments or further suggestions welcome! -- Mark Tapley, Dwarf Engineer (I haven't cleared my neighborhood) 210-379-4635

19 years, 8 months

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test-drb