On March 29, Loboyko Steve wrote:
> I just completed the very nasty job of downloading the
> operating system and a few BASIC programs to my "new"
> PDP8, which is built from Robert Armstrong's design.
> It only draws about 5 watts, so it isn't a problem to
> keep on all the time, unlike others that people on
> this list might own!
...
> sloboyko.home.mindspring.com/pdp8e.htm
HEY! That's a really REALLY nice piece of work! :-)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire "...it's leaving me this unpleasant,
St. Petersburg, FL damp feeling on my shorts..." -Sridhar
I just bought a IBM PS/2 Model 9577 today for $10. It's got some areas
of sticky sticker residue on it. Usually, I use "Goo Gone" to remove
that type of thing. A lot of times I need to let it sit and soak. The
Goo Gone tends to flow to other areas, However, which can make a mess,
and waste the stuff too. I decided to use toilet paper to control the
flow. Basically, I used a single sheet or even less, lay it over the
desired area, and soak it with the Goo Gone. The toilet paper controls
the Goo Gone by surface tension..... at least I assume it's the surface
tension between the toilet paper, case, and the Goo Gone. Let it soak,
then you can pretty much wipe the area clean :-)
--
Chad Fernandez
Michigan, USA
I just found the thread a few days ago, it looks like it lived and died
in 1998? - but I'm hoping there's still life out there. I need to
transfer cpm floppies to dos, hardsectored unfortuntely to dos
soft-sectored, otherwise there is software I could use. I have ten
years of work on cpm which I can't access, and being financially
challenged I can't hire someone to do it. What I need is a northstar
horizon that reads hardsectored 5.5" floppies, which I could borrow or
buy at a low price.
Thanks for any help you can give,
-Ron
On March 26, Huw Davies wrote:
> > > Just a note that <http://www.alibris.com/home.cfm> lists two copies of
> > > Computer Design: A DEC View ... for sale. One is $34 and one is $57. That's
> > > cheaper than Ebay by a long shot.
> >
> >I have one up for $49 with no bids right now.
> >http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2011505056
>
> US$49! That's nearly $100 Aussie dollars.
>
> I know it's a good book (I have two copies, one of which I've read, the
> other I just acquired and has never been opened) but I wouldn't pay $100
> for it. In fact, I don't recall paying for either copy, they were just
> "Huw, have this book".
Heh...does that mean you'd sell yours for US$49?
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire "...it's leaving me this unpleasant,
St. Petersburg, FL damp feeling on my shorts..." -Sridhar
Hi,
A friend was claiming that with the UCSD P-System, one could "compile once"
and then "run anywhere" (where "anywhere" means different kinds of
computers running the P-System, not different instances of the same computer).
Was this true?
Did users commonly compile on system A and then take the P-Code to
system B and run it successfully?
I'd have thought that media incompatibility would have tended to
limit this capability.
Was any commerical P-System software sold that was a single binary,
but the vendor expected the user to be able to install/run it on
any brand/model of P-System? (Or, did vendors have to produce a version
for every platform?)
thanks,
Stan Sieler
sieler(a)allegro.com
Stan Sieler sieler(a)allegro.com
www.allegro.com/sieler/wanted/index.htmlwww.allegro.com/sieler
I received a call saying there was a few old commodores to rescue.
I called and he mentioned a couple of 64's, a vic 20 and a B128.
I pick up several boxes, when I get them open there is a Pet 4032 inside
one of them with the B128 keyboard. there is a 103 modem, and another
bookshelf worth of games, programs and a bunch of old Popular Electronics
and Radio-electronics including one with an article entitled 'Hobby
computer Main-Frames'. Lot's of extra cables a few dongles, a D9090 hard
drive, . A capture card 2 beat up 64's.
On March 29, Tony Duell wrote:
> Err, that's it. The RK07 has a solenoid that locks the head carriage when
> the drive is powered down. There it no manual parking bracket or similar.
I distinctly remember a drive of a similar form factor in which
there was a metal peg with a grab-ring on the end that you stuck into
a hole in the positioner assembly to immobilize it...am I thinking of
the RM02/03 (a.k.a. CDC 9762)?
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire "...it's leaving me this unpleasant,
St. Petersburg, FL damp feeling on my shorts..." -Sridhar
Osborne also replaced the electronics on the drive with their own board. My
O1 had Siemens FDD 100-5 drives.
I have the cable pinout and disk controller schematics in my copy of the
Osborne 1 Technical manual, if anyone wants a copy.
Question: the tech manual says that with the double density option
installed, the O1 could read/write IBM 40 track 8 (512 byte) sectors, Xerox
820 40 track, 18 (128 byte) sectors, and DEC 1820 DD 40 track 9 (512 byte)
sectors. Can anybody verify this (Fred?)?
-----Original Message-----
From: Don Maslin [mailto:donm@cts.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 3:48 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: RE: 5.25" floppy model numbers
On Thu, 28 Mar 2002, Erik S. Klein wrote:
> Before you scrap them?
>
> I'm looking for some old 5.25" drives to bring back a couple of Osborne 1s
> to dual drive status.
Be advised that the Osborne drives are not directly interchangeable with
`normal' 5.25" drives. The ribbon cable to the card edge carries drive
power as well as signals and is wired differently. You will need to
conjure an adapter to use normal ones.
- don
> Does anyone know of a good source for old floppy drives? Or better yet, a
> source for getting them repaired?
>
> Erik S. Klein
<snip>
>>Before you scrap them?
>>
>>I'm looking for some old 5.25" drives to bring back a couple of Osborne 1s
>>to dual drive status.
>
>Be advised that the Osborne drives are not directly interchangeable with
>`normal' 5.25" drives. The ribbon cable to the card edge carries drive
>power as well as signals and is wired differently. You will need to
>conjure an adapter to use normal ones.
I have an Osborne 1 that has had dead video for a while. Since it is a
spare anyway, I would be willing to disassemble the drives, and send them to
the original poster (Erik, I think?). I'd also try to save any cables,
connectors, screws, etc.
One caveat... this O1 has had dead video since I got it, so I have never
fully tested out the floppies... I suppose at some point I could have
swapped them into a working O1, but I never had the time....
If the original poster could email me off-list, we can exchange shipping
information. I will not charge for the drives, but because they're not
light, I'd appreciate reimbursement for shipping....
Thanks!
Rich B.
_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk [mailto:ard@p850ug1.demon.co.uk]
> > >Anyway, I repair my PCs to component level as well..
> Doesn't everybody???
> > No.
> OK, does _anybody_ (else)?
Yes. In fact, I am at the moment endeavoring to become competent
enough with electronics to make repairs like this (especially the
simple ones). I'm not quite there yet.
Chris
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
On Fri, 29 Mar 2002 13:56:46 -0600 Owen Robertson <univac2(a)earthlink.net>
writes:
> on 3/29/02 12:47 PM, jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com at jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com
> wrote:
>
> >> This will require lots of work to defeat, I think, as
> >> the politicians have bought into the fantasy that a
> >> pirated copy of something conctitutes a lost sale.
> >
> > Even if it does pass, there's nothing *anyone* can do
> > about it. Everyone (who matters) will ignore it.
>
> Well I seriously doubt than anyone will go along with this,
> even if it is passed. But didn't the people who came up with
> this consult people who know something about computers
> and software?
Surely you jest. This is *LEGISLATION* remember? It has
almost nothing to do with the real world. The only people
lawmakers consult when writing legislation, are the people
who sign the checks.
> If they had, surely someone would have explained
> to them that this is: A) total shit, and B) impossible to
> enforce.
Part "A" is actually true of *any* legislation made in the
past twenty years (probably even further back than that).
It's almost a requirement.
Part "B" is irrelevant, because the whole legislative
exercise in this country is about getting re-elected, and
aquiring the money to achieve this end. Period. If
it pleases the guys who sign the checks (and if the
aforementioned checks have the requisite number of
digits), it will become law-- one way or another.
> I'm not very 'up' on intellectual property laws, but
> how can they *force* programmers, both corporate
> employees and individuals, to do this?
That's just it: They can't, at least not without
spending massive amounts of money (which we don't
have) on enforcement. It's little more than a game.
Geez, look what you've done-- now I need a beer!
After that, I think I'm going to practise my kung-fu
on this here soapbox . . . .
Jeff
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.
S.F. Bay area collectors,
I assume and hope you are ahead of me on this, but:
------
From: ronfronberg(a)earthlink.net (ron fronberg)
Newsgroups:
comp.sys.next.marketplace,ba.market.computer,ba.market.computers,misc.forsale.co
mputers.workstation,ba.marketplace.computers
Subject: NeXT Laser Printers - Complete in Original Box $15
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 05:21:38 GMT
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
I have access to a large quantity of NeXT Laser Printers. The printers
are complete with all cables and trays. The printers are in original, not
their own, NeXT Laser Printer boxes. The printer condition is unknown.
The cost is $15 each. The printers must be picked up in Redwood City, CA
the first week of April, thru Friday the 5th. The printers will not be
shipped or held.
The method of payment would be by PayPal. The printers would need to be
paid for in advance.
If interested, email me at ronfronberg(a)earthlink.net by Sunday.
thanks
ron
--
ronald fronberg
650 - 366-2566
650 - 369-5665 fax
redwood city, ca
ronfronberg(a)earthlink.net
--------
contact him, not me. - Mark
Well, they could send in the police to confiscate all of your computer
equipment and software, and then not give it back until after the court has
thrown out the case, which could be a year or more. Try writing much real
software without a computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: Owen Robertson [mailto:univac2@earthlink.net]
Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 1:57 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: The Future End of Classic Computing
<snip>
I'm not very 'up' on intellectual property laws, but how can they *force*
programmers, both corporate employees and individuals, to do this?
--
Owen Robertson
On Fri, 29 Mar 2002 11:52:46 -0500 (EST) "Douglas H. Quebbeman"
<dougq(a)iglou.com> writes:
> The End of Classic Computing, and in fact, the end
> of Computing as a hobby for almost all of us, is on
> the table in the U.S. Congress in the form of The
> Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion
> Act (CBDTPA). This insidious bill would strike at
> the very heart of this community, the software that
> keeps our ClassicComputers running, unless we or
> someone incorporates anti-pirating measures.
I say fuck 'em. Any software that complies with
this probably won't be worth using anyway. History
has proven time and again that 'anti-piracy' measures
don't work. If the 'protections' are too cumbersome,
no one will use the product. Conversely, it is also
possible to implement 'protections' that don't pose
a serious obstacle.
> Now, if that sounded inflammatory, it should. It's
> not quite accurate either. The bill will cover only
> software created from the time of the bill's passage
> and on into the future. The stuff we play with now
> would therefore be exempt.
Yeah, it looks like it's written to cover all of the
M$ crap. Don't need it. Don't want it.
> There appears to be a loophole for stuff you do that
> you never distribute. There also appears to be a loophole
> for computers that do not contain microprocessors.
RIght. 'We'll never distribute this version of Linux'
(wink, wink). It will just ram a whole bunch of
creative people underground (but maybe we'll see a
rebirth of CPUs implemented in discrete logic :^).
> But there would be a horizon coming soon. If the bill
> is passed, computers and software being developed now,
> once 10 years old, might be on-topic, but you'd be
> breaking federal law to share software.
Like I said, fuck 'em. If they come after one guy,
you know they'll have to come for about 1,000,000
other guys who are doing the same thing. There ain't
gonna be no budget for this . . .
> Sponsored by someone who must surely be certifiably
> insane, one Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina,
> if you want more information, see:
Certifiably insane? I don't think that's open to
debate: It's a job requirement, and has been for decades.
> This will require lots of work to defeat, I think, as
> the politicians have bought into the fantasy that a
> pirated copy of something conctitutes a lost sale.
Even if it does pass, there's nothing *anyone* can do
about it. Everyone (who matters) will ignore it.
My $0.02
Jeff
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
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On 2002.03.27 22:29 pat(a)cart-server.purdueriots.com wrote:
> Also, I didn't get a keyboard
> with it and didn't see one there. What kind of keyboard does it use,
And Jochen Kunz <jkunz(a)unixag-kl.fh-kl.de> wrote:
> You need a special break out cable like on the DECstation 5000 2{0,4,6}0
> machines. It has a 15 pin D shell connector on one side and a litle box
> on the other. Keyboard (any DEC LK{2,4}01) and Mouse (DEC VSXXX) are
> connected to this box.
And then pat(a)cart-server.purdueriots.com also wrote:
> Does anyone have the pinout for this? Or even better, does anyone have a
> pinout for both this and a Framebuffer Console cable that works with a
> VAXstation 3200 and 4-plane mono framebuffer- a BC18P? OR should I just
> try to plug it in? I want to get some sort of confirmation that it won't
> blow up my keyboard or DEC3000 first.
I am under the impression that the same cable used for the DECstation 5000
series is also used with the DEC 3000 series of machines. Given that,
a BC18P (or BC18Z) is not compatible. Although I don't have a complete
pinout on the BC18P, I do know that pin 3 of the BC18P (pins 1,2,3 of the
BC18Z) is used for video. For the 5000 (and hopefully the 3000) the first
few pins are used for the keybaord.
And Doc <doc(a)mdrconsult.com> added:
> The kbd/mouse dongle pinouts are posted on the web somewhere. Try
> Googling "dec 3000/300x pinout" or something. I looked briefly last
> night and can't find it, but it's out there.
Having not found the 5000 cable pinout myself, I did a pinout for it some
time back. I will paste it to the end of this and we will go from there.
Mike
DECstation 5000 keyboard/mouse cable and related info
--------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
---------------
The DECstation 5000 has a 15 pin (male) D connector on the back for keyboard
and mouse connections. There is a cable that plugs into the 5000 connector
and has a keyboard socket (RJ-11) and a mouse socket (7 pin mini-din) on the
other end. I am under the impression that the same cable is also used with
the DEC 3000 series of machines.
The part number for the cable is 17-02640-01.
For a keyboard, use a LK201 or LK401.
For a mouse, use a VSXXX-AA (round hockey puck) or VSXXX-GA (rectangular).
CABLE INFO
The cable pinout (from the DECstation 5000/240 manual) is:
Pin Signal Desc.
1 GND Ground (to keyboard socket)
2 KEY.TX Keyboard transmitted data
3 KEY.RX Keyboard received data
4 +12v Keyboard power
5 GND Ground
6 MSE.RX Mouse received data
7 MSE.TX Mouse transmitted data
8 GND Ground (to mouse socket)
9 GND Ground (to mouse socket)
10 NC
11 NC
12 NC
13 +5v Mouse power
14 -12v Mouse power
15 GND Ground (to mouse socket)
I have also verified the above info with a VOM.
KEYBOARD INFO
As for the keyboard, I had a couple of them open a while back (to clean
out the cookie crumbs) and traced them out somewhat. Looking into the
end of the plug on the cable coming from the keyboard.
|------------|
| o o o o |
| B R G Y |
|___| |___|
|____|
B - Black - Data from keyboard
R - Red - +12v to keyboard
G - Green - Ground
Y - Yellow - Data to keyboard
And looking into the socket on the end of the 17-02640-01 cable:
(also applies to the keyboard socket on a terminal such as a VT420)
|------------|
| o o o o |
| Y G R B |
|___| |___|
|____|
Pin
Y to pin 3 of the 15 pin D connector on cable 17-02640-01
G to pin 1 ...
R to pin 4 ...
B to pin 2 ...
I do not include pin numbers for the keyboard connector because I have
found on-line references to some of this info and in some cases the pin
numbers differ. Your mileage may vary.
MOUSE INFO
As for the mouse, you will find the pinouts below and the signals.
Please note that the pin numbers may not be the official DEC numbers.
Here again, I have seen on-line references to some of this info and
the pin numbers differ.
Looking into the plug coming from the mouse:
5 6 7
o o o
4 o === o 1
o o
3 2
1 - -12v
2 - Data to mouse
3 - Ground
4 - Data from mouse
5 - +5v
6 - nc
7 - nc
And looking at the socket on a machine or end of the 17-02640-01 cable:
7 6 5
o o o
1 o === o 4
o o
2 3
Pin
1 to pin 14 of the 15 pin D connector on cable 17-02640-01
2 to pin 6 ...
3 to pins 8, 9, & 15 ...
4 to pin 7 ...
5 to pin 13 ...
6 nc
7 nc
> Ethan Dicks wrote:
>
>--- "Carlini, Antonio" <Antonio.Carlini(a)riverstonenet.com> wrote:
>> To verify (for sure) you should have
>> the yellow LED off (self-test failed)
>> and the red LEDs below that
>> reading OFF, ON, OFF, OFF, OFF, OFF, ON
>> (which is 21 in BCD - no, I don't know why!)
>
>What doesn't make sense?
The use of BCD ... what's wrong with
good old binary! I guess they were
trying to make it easier for
the hard of counting.
Antonio
Came upon this manual and dont see I'll ever need it
This is for a Cipher M990 9 track tape drive
manual has complete schematics and maintenance info
interesting machine, has both a Zilog 8002 and a 16 bit bit-slice processor in
it...
Free for shipping costs
Peter Wallace
Mesa Electronics
I was wondering if there is a simple way of tranfering cp/m files from
the original Osborne 1 format to something a Commodore 1574 drive can
read. I see it does Osborne SSDD, but not SSSD. I'm also wondering
about downloading software of the net on my Linux box, as I can get
either a 360k or 1.2M 5.25" floppy (MS-DOS format???)
i'm open for suggestions . . don't want to do a serial poert transfer.
Gary Hildebrand
St. Joseph, MO
In a message dated 3/29/02 12:50:30 PM Eastern Standard Time,
menadeau(a)attbi.com writes:
> The classic computing hobby aside, The CBDTPA is stupid on a number of
> levels. Most electronics manufacturers are against it, for example. They say
> it will discourage innovation and slow the development of new products.
> Civil libertarians oppose it for potential privacy issues and its likelihood
> of impeding the free flow of information.
>
> By all means, contact your Congress critter if you want to express your
> opposition. I suggest, however, that you bring up some of the more high
> profile arguments against the bill as well as its impact on the hobby.
>
> The CBDTPA is not a done deal. Powerful forces are lined up on both sides,
>
OK, I just read the CBDTPA.. It'll never work even if it were to be passed
and here's why...
The act specifically says the security measures *shall not* prevent a legal
owner from making a personal copy (presumably for backup perposes,etc..). If
you can make a backup, you can trade it, etc, just like it is happening now...
The second good reason it'll never work is they can't possibly enforce it.
You can't subject other countries to US rules policies, and the act doesn't
have any provision for open source or freeware, or PD goodies. The US nor
any other country can effectively poliece/control the internet.
Thirdly, you can't use a hardware decryption because there is no feasable way
of that method working on all available platforms (and imagine the US saying
to companies that they can't make such and such a product unless they install
"our pre-approved security gizmo"), so you would have to use software..
There's no way a software encryption/decryption would work because you could
not possibly keep the code from leaking out or being reverse engineered.
Lastly (at least how I see it) the act would invariably violate freedom of
speach by dictating how and where we could express information.
-Linc.
In The Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right...
Calculating in binary code is as easy as 01,10,11.
>From reading the Wired article, it looks like the biggest backers are the
big movie studios and record companies, so it makes sense that the bill is
clueless about open source and PD software.
Scary nonetheless.
-----Original Message-----
From: LFessen106(a)aol.com [mailto:LFessen106@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 12:29 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: The Future End of Classic Computing
<snip>
OK, I just read the CBDTPA.. It'll never work even if it were to be passed
and here's why... <snip> the act doesn't have any provision for open source
or freeware, or PD goodies. The US nor any other country can effectively
poliece/control the internet.<snip>
There's no way a software encryption/decryption would work because you could
not possibly keep the code from leaking out or being reverse engineered.
<snip>
> Mitch Wright wrote:
>
>Does anyone know how to park(lock) the heads on RK07 drives for
moving?
The RK06/RK07 User's Manual is available at:
http://208.190.133.201/decimages/moremanuals.htm
I don't see anywhere that mentions locking
or unlocking heads, but I only skimmed
through quite quickly.
Antonio
Forwarded from alt.sys.pdp8,10,&11:
(contact the originak poster, please)
From: "Betty Sparks CIRT-IRC" <bsparks(a)unm.edu>
To: <bsparks(a)unm.edu>
Subject: pdp-11 availalbe
Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 10:21 AM
Is there any interest in a pdp-11...maybe an e with all the associated
DEC documentation?
Also, any other group that you migh know of that would be interested and I
will send info to them
thanks Betty
--
-Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (dougq(a)iglou.com) [Call me "Doug"]
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits
> A friend was claiming that with the UCSD P-System, one could "compile
once"
> and then "run anywhere" (where "anywhere" means different kinds of
> computers running the P-System, not different instances of
> the same computer).
>
> Was this true?
I've never seen it contradicted.
> Did users commonly compile on system A and then take the P-Code to
> system B and run it successfully?
It wasn't likely common.
> I'd have thought that media incompatibility would have tended to
> limit this capability.
Serial ports and modems would more or less get around this problem.
> Was any commerical P-System software sold that was a single binary,
> but the vendor expected the user to be able to install/run it on
> any brand/model of P-System? (Or, did vendors have to produce a version
> for every platform?)
The Smalltalk-80 System also used an interpreter, called the bytecode
interpreter, and it was in fact common to take an application compiled
on, say, a Xerox Dorado and run it on a Xerox Magnolia, or even a
Tektronix box. I've seen references recently to an Alto version of
Smalltalk-80 2.2, so the apps crafted at XSIS (Xerox Special Information
Systems) like The Analyst(tm), might have been worked out on Altos
then run at the The Company on Magnolias.
-dq
--
-Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (dougq(a)iglou.com) [Call me "Doug"]
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hans Franke [mailto:Hans.Franke@mch20.sbs.de]
> We all know there's only one real high level language :)
German?
Chris
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'