I would like to do a bad sector scan on a RD52 connected to a RQDX1 (The
machine is a pdp11/73 without OS) prior to installing BSD2.11.Is there a
standalone program like zrqch0(only for RQDX3) that can be downloaded directly
to the pdp via vtserver and recognizes the RQDX1 , i.e. a version of zrqb or
something similar?
I've managed to come across a 'Votrax Personal Speech System'. I've found
some information from google, but haven't found out some important things
like what the pinout is on the power connector (it's a DIN-5). While I
can just trace the traces back to chips on the circuit board, it's proven
hard to disassemble, so I'd rather not if I don't have to.
Does anyone have enough information about this thing to tell me how it
wants to be powered?
Oh, and another thing. I've recently picked up a few 2-4VUPS VAXstations
that I'm working on trying to turn into a VMS cluster. I'm hoping to
create a public-access system - I remember seeing an article about another
one on SlashDot a few months ago. Because of the terms of the hobbyist
license, I'll need to make it a non-commercial-use-only cluster, but I'd
like to make it available to list members or other people to mess around
with.
Pat
--
Purdue Universtiy ITAP/RCS
Information Technology at Purdue
Research Computing and Storage
http://www-rcd.cc.purdue.edu
Hello John
Thankyou very much for your kind reply.
Yes it is a complete system.
I have checked Kermit in this system but I could not
find this S/W there. Might be my process was wrong.
And if it is there how can I access Kermit(how to find
wheather Kermit is there or not).
Is there any command for Kermit. Please suggest me how
to find wheather Kermit is there or not.
/********
Incase if kermit will not be installed then how can I
transfer the data.
********/
Basically it is the text data which I want to transfer
to the winnt PC. This system is having 8" floopy drive
& I also wants to transfer files from 8" floopies to
PC.
These files are important for me & I want to make
backup for these files into the another PC having WIN
NT.
Please advice me I will be very thankful to you.
I am in India.
Best regards
Kishore
--- John Lawson <jpl15(a)panix.com> wrote:
>
>
> Hello Kishore. You do not give enough information
> to allow us to be of
> much help.
>
>
> Is this a complete system, or do you just have the
> diskdrive itself?
>
> If you have the whole machine, then most likely a
> program called 'Kermit'
> is installed - you need to also have the Windows
> version of Kermit on your
> PC, and then connect the serial ports together with
> a cable. OR, if you
> are lucky enough to have a newer DEC machine with
> Ethernet, you can just
> hook them up that way.
>
> If you have only the Drive - is it MFM? EDSI?
> SCSI?
>
> Is it just data you need? ASCII? HEX? Are there
> existing programs that
> you would need to execute after transferring? Are
> they MACRO11? FORTRAN?
> BASIC? Pascal? etc... would you need to run one
> of the PDP emulators on
> your PC? IS this for commercial use? Are you going
> to need to license the
> OS (from Mentec)?
>
> Also, where are you? If in the US or Canada, and
> you only have the drive
> (and the data is important or critical) I would
> suggest that you assemble
> a DEC system and install the Drive in it, then use
> Kermit. If you can't
> do that, perhaps you can send the drive to someone
> who would install it,
> extract the info, and return it to you. Just for
> example, I have a
> PDP-11/44 system with EDSI drives, 8" floppies, and
> a 14" removable-pack
> drive. It runs RSX 11M+ V5.03. If possible, you
> should know these details
> about your Drive, as all of this makes a large
> difference in just how to
> take the data off.
>
> You should write your message again to the
> classiccmp list, and give all
> the details you can think of. That way, we can
> steer you in the right
> direction.
>
>
> Cheers
>
> John
>
>
> REF:
>
> >Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 08:38:58 -0800 (PST)
> >From: nk badoni <badoni_nk(a)yahoo.com>
> >Reply-To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
> >To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
> >Subject: Tranfer of Files From RSX-11
> >
> >Hello
> >
> >I am Kishore.
> >
> >Could you please tell me that how can I tranfer the
> >files from Winchester Disk having RSX-11/PDP format
> >into a PC having Win NT operating system.
> >
> >Kishore
Stan:
My CDs were created from ISO images. The files were something like
hpux_11_0_disk1.iso.gz and hpux_11_0_disk2.iso.gz
I labeled the disks accordingly, and have tried both.
Haven't gotten a chance to examine the sectors yet. Will do that now
since I'm up with a horrendous case of the flu anyway. :P
Thanks!
---
John Willis
Field Service Engineer
Ariel Technologies
505.524.6860 voice 505.524.6863 fax
jwillis(a)arielusa.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Stan Sieler
Sent: Tue 2/18/2003 12:26 PM
To: John Willis; cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Cc:
Subject: RE: HP 9000 "Nova" I-class systems
Re:
> and I finally got a copy of HP-UX 11.0, but when I try
> to boot off the CD (boot 52.2.0.0), it says "Bad LIF magic."
I'm told
> this means the media is not
> bootable.
I can boot from CD ... if I use the right CD (I've had similar
problems when putting the wrong CD in).
What's your CD say on it?
Also, if you can read the first few sectors of the CD on another
system,
what do they look like? Byte 0 should be $80, and bytes 1..3
should
be readable ASCII.
--
Stan Sieler
sieler(a)allegro.com
www.allegro.com/sieler/wanted/index.html
[demime 1.01a removed an attachment of type application/ms-tnef which had a name of winmail.dat]
I have been working for some time on a pet project to make a mass
storage emulator for HP-IB systems. Given the massive improvement in
capacity that has taken place the past 10 years, most mass storage
devices from the 80s look pathetic.
For example, take the HP 9133H which is a massive unit that can store
about 5Mb. Even the compact flash cards that are bundled with popular
digital cameras can do better than that.
I started my project by trying to utilize the HP-IB drivers that are
part of the NetBSD Open Source Unix clone (which runs on the HP 300
series), but I have come to realize that the HP-IB cards are the
creating a new legacy issue.
Open Source drivers for HP-IB cards are very hard to find and thus any
solution that depends on them becomes de facto legacy (once the card
itself is no longer sold, finding the card becomes almost as difficult
as finding HP 9133H drives).
So I looked hard at the HP-IB bus itself (using the schematics from the
Series 80 adaptor) and it looks like a simple parallel bus. So why use
a custom card, if the PC parallel port can be adapted to drive an HP-IB
bus.
If the PC parallel port can be used, then I can port the NetBSD drivers
to use the parallel port, rather than the HP 300 HP-IB interface. The
NetBSD drivers also support SS-80 compatible mass storage devices,
which means that the implementation can be verified against a real
HP-IB mass storage device. If this works than the drivers will have to
be modified so that they become a mass storage "server" rather than a
"client" (i.e. a device that responds to mass storage requests, instead
of a computer that issues such requests).
Small i386 compatible single board computers are easily procurable and
embedded versions of *BSD and Linux systems run on these SBCs (they
even accept compact flash cards or more traditional hard disks). This
means that we can make a mass storage device that can physically fit
inside the cabinet of the main unit (e.g. Integral PC, or HP-87).
Anybody willing to provide assistance to this effort, is welcome to
contact me. However, I think that going through this list may be
more beneficial so that other people can contribute in the technical
discussion.
**vp
The system came with no hard drives, no media, and the 4mm tape and
CD-ROM were
disconnected from the SCSI chain. I was able to get the thing put back
together,
and I finally got a copy of HP-UX 11.0, but when I try
to boot off the CD (boot 52.2.0.0), it says "Bad LIF magic." I'm told
this means the media is not
bootable.
So my question is... how does one install HP-UX if the CD is not
bootable?
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Brown
Sent: Fri 2/14/2003 9:56 AM
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Cc:
Subject: Re: HP 9000 "Nova" I-class systems
What's your question (I support several of these boxes..an 827,
a G40
and an H70).
-Bob
>Anyone out there have experience with HP 9000 "Nova" class
systems?
>Specifically the 9000/800 I40 especially, but any in the class.
>
>John
bbrown(a)harper.cc.il.us #### #### Bob Brown - KB9LFR
Harper Community College ## ## ## Systems Administrator
Palatine IL USA #### #### Saved by grace
[demime 1.01a removed an attachment of type application/ms-tnef which had a name of winmail.dat]
Sellam writes:
> As I mentioned to you privately, I am not responsible for
> flame wars being started over comments I make.
Try avoiding off-topic reactionist banter to begin with. You
KNOW people are going to bite the bait and start a flame war.
I have my opinions on all those events, too, and will share
them with whoever wants to hear them, but ON THE APPROPRIATE
CHANNELS, which means, not here.
--fred
> Yes, those damned dirty A-rabs. We all know for a
> fact that they use the profits to finance terrorism
> because Colin Powell showed us a pretty graphic
> that proved it. All those people who have doubts
> are just stupid.
I don't want to start a to-do on this list, but I
couldn't let this pass..
Colin Powell showed real evidence that some people who
happen to be from the Middle East (Not sure if Hussein
and his people are Arabs) are doing some bad stuff.
The discussion is about bad people who happen to be
Arab. Not that all Arabs are bad people.
And it so happens, that a lot of terrorists in the
world today are from the Middle East. Used to be,
terrorists were Northern Irish...
The fact that some of the worst incidents have been
perpetrated by people from the Middle East does not
make Americans, British or others wrong for noticing
it. If anything, it means that it calls for others in
the Middle East to speak up and use the social
pressures or peers to put a stop to their fellow
citizens (all these bad people must be SOMEONE'S
brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins,
neighbors...) doing all this bad stuff.
The displeasure that is aimed towards Middle Eastern
people from people in the West is because this isn't
happening. People are being killed daily, and instead
of having Millions of people stand up and protest
that.... We have millions of people stand up and
protest somebody trying to put a stop to it.
Yes, I think that's stupid. And I think the people who
condemn the police instead of the criminals, are
stupid...
> We all know a good A-rab is a dead A-rab. Fuck
> them. Let's go in there and take their precious
> oil from them so they can never use the profits
> to finance terrorism anymore. That'll end all
> terrorism forever and ever and we can live happily
> ever after guzzling all the free oil we want.
Not all American's or Westerners believe this.
While I would like that Terrorists get no money at
all, from any source. And I'm pretty sure lots of
Saudi money does indeed go to support terrorism. Drug
money from Poppy sales also goes there, and other
money goes there also.
I would like to see the oil money stay in the Middle
East, but used to feed and care for the people there.
To provide water, sanitation, schooling, and good
lives for the people in Middle Eastern countries.
Rather than being spent on Terrorism, Weapons of Mass
Destruction or persecution of Non Muslim peoples.
That is VERY frustrating for Americans. I contribute
money to charities all the time, and just get sick
when I think of all the Billions of Dollars spent on
weapons and death that instead should have been spent
on life and making the lives of people better.
People who are Anti-American, and Anti-Bush just don't
know the truth about Americans or George Bush. They
buy all sorts of stories that aren't true. Make up
motivations that aren't real.
We liberated Kuwait, but if you notice did not take
the country over. We returned it to the rightful
rulers. We've done the same throughout history.
History shows that Americans aren't interested in
ruling the world, only liberating other people to be
free and happy.
So, let's get back to discussing Classic Computers...
Regards,
Al
Hi
There was some software multitasking done on 6502's, as well
as other machines. This was done in Forth ( both preemptive
and various round robin taskers ). Forth has the advantage
that a task state can be saved with just two pointers. You
do need to swap task at word boundaries. This can cause
a little latency if it is a interrupt driven tasker.
( "word" here refers to the minimum executable unit of the Forth
engine and not the address size ).
Dwight
>From: "Patrick Finnegan" <pat(a)purdueriots.com>
>
>On Sat, 8 Feb 2003, Jim Keohane wrote:
>
>> =====excerpt=2======================
>>
>> A 6502 task context
>> would therefore require moving about 1KB, which would take about 4,500
>> instructions (at one instruction per cycle.) On a circa-1980's machine,
>> with a 1MHz clock, that would take about 4.5 msec.
>
>This gives me awfully devious ideas... First, were there any 'multitasking
>machines' designed around the 6502? If you wanted to do multitasking, it
>seems like you could design a fairly simple MMU that would swap out the
>zero-page and stack (or all of the memory pages) for different ones,
>depending on the running task. Leaving only a few registers that need to
>be saved, it would leave a very small overhead for task swapping. You
>could even implement kernel and user mode into the MMU, making it swap
>pages automatically on an interrupt or 'memory write' to signal a syscall
>(and a swapping of pages, interrupt to the CPU and transition to 'kernel
>mode').
>
>I think I'm going to need to start playing with designing a 6502-based
>machine now... Or maybe I should just get back to working on putting
>machines into racks so I have some floorspace around here to work in.
>
>Pat
>--
>Purdue Universtiy ITAP/RCS
>Information Technology at Purdue
>Research Computing and Storage
>http://www-rcd.cc.purdue.edu
On Tuesday, February 18, 2003, chu(a)verizon.net wrote:
> Big success and then a new problem. I took out the top three levels of my
> cards and reseated them. There's a lot of corrosion on the contacts so it
> inserts only with difficulty.
Maybe you should clean the contacts!
--
Jeffrey Sharp
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Sykes" <anonymous(a)pacbell.net>
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 6:24 PM
Subject: FREE VAXstation 4000-60
>
> If anyone has an interest in the following old system, let me know ASAP.
> I have to be out of my office by EOM and have nowhere to put this.
>
> Hardware........: VAXstation 4000-60
> Operating System: VMS Ver.V6.1
> *Full License set*
> Main Memory (32.00Mb)
> 2-RZ56 (1299174 blocks each)
> 1-RZ55 (649040 blocks)
> 1-RZ24 (409792 blocks)
> 2-TK50Z
> 1-RD40
> 1-TLZ04
> 1-VRT19DA (VT200 style RGB sync)
>
> Includes All cables
>
>
> --
>
> Have VMS, Will Travel
> Wire paladin, San Francisco
>
> (paladinATalphaseDOTcom)
In honor of the recent slide rule discussion, I decided to throw a few
picks of mine up on the web for all to see. This is just a quick and
dirty page. Maybe I'll improve it at some later date. The URL is:
http://cmcnabb.cc.vt.edu/sliderulez.html
--
Christopher L McNabb
Operating Systems Analyst Email: cmcnabb(a)4mcnabb.net
Virginia Tech ICBM: 37.1356N 80.4272N
GMRS: WPSR255 ARS: N2UX Grid Sq: EM97SD
I am looking for the following, working or not:
KXT11
DRV11-J
KE11-B
MCV11
MRV11-D
VSV21
H780
RWZ01
RC25
RD53
RD54
KDJ11-A,
FPJ11
A6006
A1008
and others. We have a lot of equipment to trade. Please let us know what you
have.
Thank you,
Shannon Hoskins
pds3(a)ix.netcom.com
Hello
I am Kishore.
Could you please tell me that how can I tranfer the
files from Winchester Disk having RSX-11/PDP format
into a PC having Win NT operating system.
Kishore
Message: 9
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 07:21:25 -0600
From: Jeffrey Sharp <jss(a)subatomix.com>
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Wanted: L5-30 Receptacle or Adapter in US
Reply-To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
I'm looking for someone in the US with a L5-30 receptacle or an adapter
so
that I can plug my L5-30-plugged DEC 861PC Power Controller into a
standard
wall outlet. Thanks!
--
Jeffrey Sharp
it is really simple to replace the l5-30 with a standard 5-15 or 5-20
for home use anf just keep the plug around "in case"
if you really must have a dongle, you should be able to get one from
MSC.com
Pavl_
Trying to clear out some more space, and I figure some people might want
some of this stuff.
* Macintosh Plus 1Mb. It starts up to a flashing disk "?" icon... I don't
have any floppies laying around to try booting it off of. No
keyboard/mouse. $10
* IBM RS/6000 Model 370 - 32MB or 64MB of ram, depending on what I can
scrounge together. Also has Gt3 or Gt4 (option 1-5) audio, network riser
card, floppy drive, 1G or so hard drive, AIX 3.1.5 (I think) installed.
$20
Pat
--
Purdue Universtiy ITAP/RCS
Information Technology at Purdue
Research Computing and Storage
http://www-rcd.cc.purdue.edu
southern New Mexico, USA
-----Original Message-----
From: SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com
Sent: Tue 2/18/2003 1:37 PM
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Cc:
Subject: Re: WANTED: IBM PS/2 Model 65 SX or Model 80 386
In a message dated 2/18/2003 2:53:40 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jwillis(a)arielusa.com writes:
<<
IBM PS/2 Model 65 SX
or
IBM PS/2 Model 80 386
these are the full-tower PS/2 systems >>
so were are you located?
[demime 1.01a removed an attachment of type application/ms-tnef which had a name of winmail.dat]
Andreas, someone wants to talk to you about V-Tel. If you wish to respond,
reply to the original author.
---------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: Chris Kantarjiev <cak(a)dimebank.com>
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2003, 11:48:44 PM
Subject: Rejected post
I'm trying to reach Andreas Freiherr. The list archives don't give *his*
email address, just the list email address.
Can you help me reach him?
---------- End forwarded message ----------
--
Jeffrey Sharp
I wasn't going to dig into my 11/44 system until I finished the 2000/Access
system, but due to circumstances beyond my control I had to dig into it
already. I have some really simple basic questions perhaps others can point
me in the right direction.
First:
It would appear the first 8 or so cards are required to be in certain slots.
Cpu set basically. If I don't have FPP or CIS stuff, those slots get left
blank? Do any grant or jumper type cards need to be there if FPP and CIS
cards aren't present? Do you need to change jumpers/switches on the other
cards that make up the cpu if there is no FPP or CIS?
After the cpu set comes memory. I know these need to be set for what area of
memory the card is for. But according to the cover on the lid, there is
about 4 slots for memory. Then there is a jumper card that joins the two
backplans, 9300 or 9200 I think. I have an 8 port mux card. I assume it
can't go in the memory slots. So do the empty memory slots (don't have
enough memory cards to fill all 4 slots) neet any kind of grant card? If I
recall correctly, after the memory is the jumper card that joins the two
backplanes... the 8 port mux could go next? And then next I'll put in a
RL01/02 controller. Then there is a buss termination card...I assume that
goes right after the RL01/02, are there any other jumper/termination/grant
cards that need to be in place?
Also, from what I recall of the Qbus stuff I have, the various peripheral
cards need to be set for where they appear in memory, the address of the
card, correct? So.. need to find docs on the 8 port mux and the RL01/02
controller.
Second:
Looking at the TU-58 drive, the rubber rollers in each drive appear to be
highly questionable - pretty gummy. What's the best way to fix those rubber
rollers? I was thinking of cleaning off the rubber, and maybe getting a
vacuum cleaner belt and building a new surface by cutting it to size and
wrapping it around the metal cylinder. Just how touchy is the parameter for
the diameter of that wheel if I'm off, making it slightly thinner or
thicker? Is there a better way?
Third:
I'm looking for just the top cover of the lowboy rack the 11/44 is in, and
another rack of the same exact style to put my two RL02's in. Don't know
what the rack is called, but it's the standard cream colored lowboy rack
that the 11/44 is typically seen in that has an opening in the front door
for the dual TU-58 drive.
Thanks in advance for any guidance!
Jay West
Hi listmates, some might be interested in this:
- Evan K.
=========================
Calculating Collector Scours Globe Hunting for Slide
Rules
By PUI-WING TAM
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
KELOWNA, British Columbia -- Walter Shawlee opened a
wooden case and lovingly pulled out a 12-inch piece of
Lucite etched with numbers and symbols. "There are
only so many of these remaining," he said.
To virtually anyone old enough to remember the slide
rule, it's an ancient relic that was deservedly
consigned to the trash bin. Not so to Mr. Shawlee, 53,
who has launched an international hunt for these
mathematical instruments that use logarithmic scales
to multiply, divide and make more complex
calculations.
Mr. Shawlee taps his network of contacts from
Singapore to Venezuela to check out the back rooms of
musty stationery stores and bookshops. He has
recruited his wife, Susan, to track down old
slide-rule inventories. And he spends up to eight
hours a day restoring battered slide rules, and
combing the Internet, estate sales and flea markets.
He says he makes $125,000 a year reselling slide rules
he acquires.
"When we used slide rules every day back in the 1960s,
we were able to send people to the moon," says Mr.
Shawlee, who came of age when the device was still the
rule in trigonometry class.
Slide rules, which resemble either rulers or discs,
were a boon to the mathematically minded and a bane to
everyone else. To multiply two times two, for example,
the user moves the "zero" of one scale to the number
two on another scale. Then the user looks at the
number two on the first scale, and above that is the
number four.
Confused? So were many other people, which is why the
slide-rule industry took a big hit in 1972, when
Hewlett-Packard Co. launched its first scientific
hand-held calculator. Almost overnight, demand for
slide rules dried up, wiping out venerable
manufacturers such as Pickett Inc. and Keuffel & Esser
Co. and leaving boxes of unopened slide rules in
stores, warehouses and schools. In the ensuing
decades, a flicker of interest in the instruments was
kept alive by a small community of collectors. In
Emeryville, Calif., enthusiasts formed a society to
show off their collections. In Dallas, some collectors
still hold an annual competition to see who can make
the speediest calculations.
But slide rules are more than quirky bric-a-brac to
the true believers. Many engineers still swear by
them. Some teachers today are reintroducing the
devices into classrooms, arguing that they foster
more-complex thought processes than electronic
calculators do. At the University of California in San
Diego, Prof. Joe Pasquale launched a freshman seminar
on slide rules in January. "I always felt we lost
something when we stopped using slide rules," says Mr.
Pasquale. "They're so much more an extension of your
mind than a replacement to it."
A slide rule made by A.W. Faber Castell Vertrieb GmbH,
now discontinued, is one of the most popular models
among collectors.
The problem is slide rules are getting harder to find.
Of the few manufacturers that survived the
calculator tsunami, most produce only a few types of
slide rules and often in limited numbers. Concise Co.
in Japan still makes circular slide rules, for
example, but the quantity "has become much smaller,"
says spokeswoman Chiho Takayama. American Slide Chart
Corp. in Carol Stream, Ill., annually makes 25 million
cardboard slide-charts, which are similar to slide
rules, but they are "largely promotional," says Julie
Johnson, the company's president.
Thus, many would-be buyers turn to Mr. Shawlee. "He's
Mr. Slide Rule," says Ted Hume, a 64-year-old engineer
in San Angelo, Texas, who sold off part of his
slide-rule collection to Mr. Shawlee several years
ago. "Walter knows everybody in the slide-rule racket.
He does everyone lots of favors and he'll buy slide
rules from you or barter them."
Mr. Shawlee's impressive slide-rule stash was on
display one recent morning at his crammed office in
this Canadian resort and winery town, a 40-minute
flight inland from Vancouver. Several hundred slide
rules, most in mint condition and in their original
boxes, were stacked floor- to-ceiling in a room where
Mr. Shawlee also runs a business that repairs and
designs engineering equipment. At home, he has another
1,000 or so slide rules scattered across the dining
table, in his home office and in his sauna.
At any one time, Mr. Shawlee, a transplanted
Californian who emigrated to Canada three decades ago,
has 1,500 to 3,000 slide rules in stock. He says he
acquires about 10% of his inventory through eBay,
while the rest comes from private sales and through
his extensive network of slide-rule hunters. He
resells many of the slide rules for as little as $10.
Some models go for $600, depending on the rarity of
the rule, and he can sell a truly uncommon one for as
much as $3,000.
Mr. Shawlee fell into the slide-rule trade shortly
after he accidentally rediscovered his old high-school
slide rule in a desk drawer in 1992. "My eyeballs
snapped open," he says, recalling how he carried his
slide rule on his belt as a kid. "There's just
something magic about them." He started a collection,
setting up an informational Web site on the devices in
1997. He received dozens of inquiries from people
asking where they could buy the instruments.
TELL ME A STORY
Read selected excerpts from the anthology
"Floating Off the Page: The Best of The Wall Street
Journal's 'Middle Column.' "
That was when Mr. Shawlee started amassing stockpiles
of slide rules from other collectors. Over a few
months, he bought more than 300. "Are you trying to
corner the slide-rule market?" his wife nervously
asked him as the hoard continued to grow.
Mr. Shawlee always puts aside about $5,000 in cash to
be ready to wire for a purchase. One of his largest
hauls came several years ago from a contact in
Singapore, attorney Foo Cheow Ming, whom he met via an
e-mail correspondence. After one e-mail discussion
with Mr. Shawlee, Mr. Foo went to an old bookstore in
downtown Singapore and asked the owner whether he had
any slide rules. "How many crates do you want?" the
owner replied. In the back room, Mr. Foo discovered 40
unopened crates, containing more than 12,000 slide
rules of all types.
"I found the mother lode," says Mr. Foo, who had no
interest in setting up his own slide-rule dealership
and shipped most of the crates off to Mr. Shawlee, who
paid a bit more than $8,000 for the lot. "Since then,
I've never stopped hunting for Walter. I've gone to
Kuala Lumpur to look and still plan to go to Penang,
Bangkok and Shanghai to find some," Mr. Foo says.
"It's all in the thrill of the hunt."
In a message dated 2/18/2003 2:53:40 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jwillis(a)arielusa.com writes:
<<
IBM PS/2 Model 65 SX
or
IBM PS/2 Model 80 386
these are the full-tower PS/2 systems >>
so were are you located?
I wrote this gentleman off-list (as the S/N ratio is rather out of hand
just now) and asked some basic questions... mainly trying to find if he
had just a disk, or the who thing. Follows is my reply to his response;
if anyone can jump in with more or better info for him, please respond
directly and cc: the list.
The meta question is: what's he gonna do with the system once the data
is mined??
Cheers
John
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 13:47:25 -0500 (EST)
From: John Lawson <jpl15(a)panix.com>
To: nk badoni <badoni_nk(a)yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Transfer of Files From RSX-11
On Tue, 18 Feb 2003, nk badoni wrote:
> Hello John
>
> Thank you very much for your kind reply.
>
> Yes it is a complete system.
Ah... this makes the process *much* easier! A bit of info now would
be: what is the model of your DEC system? (ie PDP 11/23, VAX 11/750,
PRO350... etc)
>
> I have checked Kermit but I could not find this S/W
> there. Might be my process was wrong.
Hmmm... a lot of RSX systems had Kermit as part of the Distribution
Kit.. you can try:
MCR> DIR kerm*.*,*
but if your disk is big and you CPU slow, this can take upto an hour to
complete.
OR, you can use a Terminal Emulating program on your Wintel machine (I
use VanDyke's CRT on my IBM Thinkpad running Win2K). Then, find the
file(s) you want, and use the RSK 'type' command to list them to the port
you are attached (logically and physically) to. Use your terminal
program's "logging" or "screen capture" function, and... there you are!
The files are safe on your PC. (This assumes you have a multi-port set of
serial terminal connectors attached to the computer. This procedure can
also be done using the PC terminal emulator attached to the DEC system
console port. The object is to list the files as an ASCII stream and
capture that listing on the PC's HD.
This will work with any storage media on your DEC computer, HDs or
Floppies, by the way.
Please write to the classiccmp list during this process, and we will all
try to help out as much as possible.
I will also forward this correspondence to the List.
Cheers
John
Well, my DEC LA120 is almost perfectly operational. Its only problem is a
set of keys that do not work when pressed. I'd like to fix that.
What I see when I remove the keycap is a square plastic housing that slides
vertically within a larger square plastic housing. The smaller housing
slides down when one presses a key. A spring below the smaller square
housing pushes the housing back up when the key is no longer pressed. Up
through the smaller housing shoot two electrical contacts. The contacts are
fixed and do not slide with the housing. When the key is up, a plastic bar
across the middle of the smaller housing holds the two contacts apart. When
the key moves down, the bar moves down and no longer holds the contacts
apart. The contacts touch and complete a circuit, and the LA120 senses a
keystroke.
Top view (key not pressed):
+-A------------------+
| +-B-----+-+------+ |
| | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | D |C| E | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | |
| +-------+-+------+ |
+--------------------+
Side view (key pressed):
| | /\ | |
A B / \ | |
| | D E | |
| | / +--+ \ | |
| | / |C | \ | |
| | / +--+ \ | |
| +----------------+ |
| /\/\/\/\F/\/\/\/\/ |
+--------------------+
A = Outer (fixed) housing
B = Inner (sliding) housing
C = Bar that holds contacts apart when not pressed
D = Electrical contact
E = Electrical contact
F = Spring
The problem is that the circuit isn't being closed when the key is pressed.
If I stick a screwdriver in there, bridge the gap between the contact, and
thus close it manually, a keypress is sensed. Actually, it senses several
keypresses very quickly, probably because of the noise caused by the
conductive screwdriver scraping across the contacts. When I press the
housing down, the contacts *appear* to touch, but no keystroke is sensed. So
I figure there are either or both of two possible things going on:
(1) Tiny space between the contacts
(2) Nonconductive material (corrosion? oxidation?) on the contacts
Two keys were fixed by using the screwdriver to bend the contacts toward
each other in the hopes of creating more force pushing them towards each
other. The ENTER key does not seem to be responding well to that treatment.
One thing is for sure. All this stuff is so tiny and hard to get to that it
is difficult to work on.
Any suggestions?
--
Jeffrey Sharp
Who was your contact on the east coast? I'm in New Mexico and
have a VAX 11/750 that I've been struggling to complete. If it was
$250 for shipping + $150 for the VAX, I'd be quite inclined to let
mine go for $250 and then spend the extra $150 to get a complete
one from the east coast person.
-----Original Message-----
From: pzachary
Sent: Tue 2/18/2003 11:13 AM
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Cc:
Subject: looking to get a VAX 11/750
It seemed to me before I called up someone out on the east coast
and
bought a VAX-11/750 for $150=/- then spent $250 or so shipping
it that I
should try the list. I want a VAX 11/750 for old times sake and
as a
peripheral for my pdp-11s... anyone have one for sale/trade/...?
Thought I'd rather a local had the money to buy inflated pdp-8
spares or
something than giving it all to a shipping company.
I'm located in santa Cruz CA and am willing to pick up within a
couple
hundred miles.
I would really like to get out of this for less than $400
(really $250
seems like a fair price(that's what they sold the one I ran out
from
under me when the funding ran out and I was on vacation for
(rant ends))
but I'll take what I can get)
further, I have much of a card set and a power supply or two, so
if I
get a incomplete one that's O.K.
thanks,
Pavl_
sorry about the joining in of the rant/flame thing RE:politics,
I can
usually restrain myself but sometimes when it goes on... and to
respond
to the digest-delayed list makes it worse I know(I've at least
changed
the last bit)
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