>I have a chance to pick up an old Penril VCX-100. It is supposedly a
>serial port multiplexor to connect a bunch of terminals to a host.
>
>I have a bunch of terminals and not enough ports on my host (Linux PC).
>Can anyone tell me how to use this box?
The VCX100 comes either with a V.35 interface or a RS-232 composite
interface. On the other end of this interface is always another Penril
box which does the demultiplexing. So, no, by itself this Penril box
won't do you any good.
What would do you the most good is a DECServer 700 or some other TCP/IP
compatible terminal server. This you can throw onto your LAN quite easily.
Older DECServers (like the 200 and 300) can be put into service as well if
you want to go to the trouble of enabling MOP boot support and LAT in
your Linux box.
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
Instead of me deciding who gets the station, I'll let you guys decide among
yourselves. Whomever is wants it enough to make the call, it is at:
MC Howard Electronics
9417 Neils Thompson Dr.
Austin, Tx 78758
800-490-6896
***ASK FOR RANDALL***
It:
VAXstation 3100
16Mb RAM
Randall said they'd ship it. They have a minimum order of $20.00 (for
shipped orders) so, the price is $20.00.
Go for it guys!
----------------------------------------
Tired of Micro$oft???
Move up to a REAL OS...
######__ __ ____ __ __ _ __ #
#####/ / / / / __ | / / / / | |/ /##
####/ / / / / / / / / / / / | /###
###/ /__ / / / / / / / /_/ / / |####
##/____/ /_/ /_/ /_/ /_____/ /_/|_|####
# ######
("LINUX" for those of you
without fixed-width fonts)
----------------------------------------
Be a Slacker! http://www.slackware.com
Slackware Mailing List:
http://www.digitalslackers.net/linux/list.html
I am a little frustrated and sure that I am missing something rather
obvious. However, what must I do to assure that VMS (5.5) recognizes
my RX33 floppy drive, DUA2, on bootup without having to run SYSGEN and
Autoconfigure All each time. The machine tries to boot from it if it has
a disk installed and then switches to the RD54 DUA0 to go on to boot.
- don
What is the model number of the machine? This can be either
something like /76 or in the form XX-XXX-XN etc. I doubt it can run a VGA
monitor (15 pin). It should have VMS as the OS and may support DEC Windows
on a DEC graphics monitor. Otherwise just need a VT type monitor or connect
a PC to it via the serial port and use a terminal emulator such as WinQVT32
(share ware).
If you don't want the machine. I'll have it! I want a VMS
machine to play with at home. Through DECUS you can get a free VMS license
plus free licenses for layered products and development tools such as DEC
BASIC, C++, Fortran, Etc. You will have to pay about USD30 for the CD-ROMS
though.
Blue
PowerHouse consultant
Rhode Island, USA
Disclaimer:
The opinions and ideas expressed in this message are my own
and have no relationship to my current employer, Initial Technical Staffing,
its client CCI, or any of CCI's clients.
-----Original Message-----
From: Arfon Gryffydd
[mailto:arfonrg@texas.net]
Sent: Monday, June 14, 1999 3:21 PM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic
computers
Subject: VAXstation 3100
I can pick up a VAXstation 3100 (just the
box, no monitor/keyboard/etc).
Is this worth messing with? What's in it
processor wise? Can I rig it to
a VGA monitor? Should I let it pass?
----------------------------------------
Tired of Micro$oft???
Move up to a REAL OS...
######__ __ ____ __ __ _ __ #
#####/ / / / / __ | / / / / | |/ /##
####/ / / / / / / / / / / / | /###
###/ /__ / / / / / / / /_/ / / |####
##/____/ /_/ /_/ /_/ /_____/ /_/|_|####
# ######
("LINUX" for those of you
without fixed-width fonts)
----------------------------------------
Be a Slacker! http://www.slackware.com
Slackware Mailing List:
http://www.digitalslackers.net/linux/list.html
I have a chance to pick up an old Penril VCX-100. It is supposedly a
serial port multiplexor to connect a bunch of terminals to a host.
I have a bunch of terminals and not enough ports on my host (Linux PC).
Can anyone tell me how to use this box?
----------------------------------------
Tired of Micro$oft???
Move up to a REAL OS...
######__ __ ____ __ __ _ __ #
#####/ / / / / __ | / / / / | |/ /##
####/ / / / / / / / / / / / | /###
###/ /__ / / / / / / / /_/ / / |####
##/____/ /_/ /_/ /_/ /_____/ /_/|_|####
# ######
("LINUX" for those of you
without fixed-width fonts)
----------------------------------------
Be a Slacker! http://www.slackware.com
Slackware Mailing List:
http://www.digitalslackers.net/linux/list.html
Well... in my attempts to get RL02 drives integreated into my
11/44 system, I have discovered that I have mounted two bad drives
(out of a possible 9) in the damn rack. Yesiree.. just the Way it Goes.
I rolled in two of the Drives that Dave Jenner so graciously gave
me, and lo! they work like the Book says they should. They test
good, they load, they come into ready, and the fault light stays
mercifully dark.
Now: naturally the required drivers for DL devices are not resident
when RSTS is booted. Since I am lacking any decent RSTS
documentation, and since the 'help' utility is not that much help in
this instance, I was wondering if anyone reading the List might be
able to help me with finding and loading the correct drivers for
'DL'.
I could maybe do this under RT11, but RSTS... d'oh!
I have RSTS V9.7 -08 RSTS97 (DB0).
It looks like this:
$ mount DL0:
^
mount: illegal device name
$
(Same for allocate)
I have not printed out the installation log, but it is present
>from the last time the machine was sysgenned.. if that would be of
any help.
I will try and provide any more info from the system that might be
required, but I confess I don't know exactly what to ask in this
situation.
Cheers and thanks for everyone's help so far..
Cheers
John
Hello,
Here's my question: I have a VAXstation 3100, and i'm interested in
upgrading VMS. Currently it runs VMS 5.4. Since the VAX doesn't have
a cdrom, and i'm assuming the cost of a DEC CDROM is outrageous (i'm
15, give me a break.), I was wondering if there is a way to install
>from a network CDROM drive. Could I setup my Linux box to share it's
CDROM via NFS? Or is there perhaps any software that would allow this?
Or am I insane? The questions..
Thanks in advance. :)
-paul
--
paul(a)paul.dragontear.org [a paradigm of a paramount failure]
Anybody need this?
Picked up with a bunch of other junque.
DOn't know if it works.
Jeff
___________________________________________________________________
Get the Internet just the way you want it.
Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
Want a free high-capacity router? Contact this fellow directly.
Vancouver, BC area.
-=-=- <snip> -=-=-
On Sun, 13 Jun 1999 14:51:03 GMT, in vmsnet.decus you wrote:
>>Message-ID: <3763C557.148F988(a)home.com>
>>From: Gerry Pelletier <gpell(a)home.com>
>>Reply-To: gpell(a)home.com
>>X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 (Macintosh; U; PPC)
>>X-Accept-Language: en
>>MIME-Version: 1.0
>>Newsgroups: vmsnet.decus
>>Subject: Free DECNIS router
>>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
>>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>>Lines: 20
>>Date: Sun, 13 Jun 1999 14:51:03 GMT
>>NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.113.82.227
>>X-Complaints-To: abuse(a)home.net
>>X-Trace: news.rdc1.bc.wave.home.com 929285463 24.113.82.227 (Sun, 13 Jun 1999 07:51:03 PDT)
>>NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 13 Jun 1999 07:51:03 PDT
>>Organization: @Home Network Canada
>>Path: news1.jps.net!news.pbi.net!206.190.128.10!newsfeed.yosemite.net!newspeer1.nac.net!netnews.com!nntp.abs.net!newshub2.home.com!news.home.com!news.rdc1.bc.wave.home.com.POSTED!not-for-mail
>>Xref: news1.jps.net vmsnet.decus:3
>>
>>Free: DEC network router, DECNIS 600
>>
>>If you don't know what this is then it's not for you. It is a large,
>>high capacity router designed for enterprise backbone network
>>configurations. It will only work in an existing DEC (Compaq)
>>network installation.
>>
>>Has the following interface cards:
>>
>>Qty Type Description
>> 4 L601 Single-port Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 AUI
>> 1 L602 Dual-port Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 Thinwire
>> 1 F621 Single-port FDDI, SAS or DAS
>>
>>If you can make use of it, you can have it. Pick it up or arrange for
>>delivery from Vancouver area. Contact gpell(a)home.com
>>
>>//Gerry
>>
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho,
Blue Feather Technologies -- kyrrin (at) bluefeathertech [dot] com
Web: http://www.bluefeathertech.com
"...No matter how we may wish otherwise, our science can only describe an object,
event, or living thing in our own human terms. It cannot possibly define any of them..."
On Jun 13, 19:05, Phil Guerney wrote:
> Subject: Early BASIC "how-to" books
> There must have been a thousand titles like "Learn BASIC for your ModelX
> Home Computer".
>
> The earliest I have found is Copyright 1977 by Jerald Brown (DYMAX, CA)
> called Instant Basic
The earliest I have is "Illustrating BASIC" by Donald Alcock, also 1977.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
Another desperate homeless S/36. In the UC I think.
-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Saxby <saxby(a)vossnet.co.uk>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware
Date: Saturday, 12 June 1999 21:50
Subject: It's going to be scrapped...
>I've got one IBM S/36 complete with 3 terminals that is going to be
scrapped
>next week unless someone wants to take it. I've posted this 3 times now for
>the reason that I don't want to see this machine scrapped. Absoloutely no
>one contacted me.
>
>If no one takes it, then I will scrap it as I have no choice.
>
>The same applies to two Amstrad 1512's with printer a 8256 with printer and
>an 9512+ with printer and disks.
>There is also a load of 286 and 386 Dell's and lots of old CGA/EGA monitors
>that need to go as well
>
>Come on, somebody must take them, or they will all have to be scrapped. I
>don't want to scrap them, but if you don't take them, then they will be.
>
>Let me know by next Friday if you want anything
>
>---
>Matthew
>
>
There must have been a thousand titles like "Learn BASIC for your ModelX
Home Computer".
The earliest I have found is Copyright 1977 by Jerald Brown (DYMAX, CA)
called Instant Basic and subtitled "Learn the new streamlined ALTAIR style
BASIC used in personal computers and the similar DEC BASIC-PLUS". It is a
thick letter paper sized softcover in a very "jazzed-up" style full of large
print in mixed-up typefaces and clip-art. (dilithium Press, OR).
I am sure there probably are earlier "for the masses" BASIC texts aimed at
home microcomputer owners (which cuts out those books on VAX Basic etc) -
how early do they go?
Phil
in Brisbane, Australia.
you wrote
"I can pop it into my 286 and try to salvage the data."
NO!!!!! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!! YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY MOVE IT TO AN ENVIRONMENT
WHERE IT CANNOT BE ROACHED UP BY A PC OR OTHER MACHINE!!!!. Preferably a
county (better yet, country, or, better still, planet) totally devoid of
other computers.
The floppy drive is a dsdd 48 tpi drive, quite standard, and, as the error
messages suggest, the system loaded from the hard disk expects to find
something on the FDD. All diskettes are not alike. Not even all boot
diskettes are alike, but you should have enough on the HDD to create a boot
diskette from what's there and live happily ever after. You might even be
able to save the "network" OS, which it may have on it, though that's not
necessarily what YOU will want to do. Still, if someone else wants it,
you're better off with having it than not.
What you have now works, though it's looking for something you probably
haven't got.
Bdos Err On A: Bad Sector doesn't mean anything except that it can't read
what it thinks it ought to read on drive A, the floppy.
if you hit <enter> a few times, it should give up. If you hit <CTL-C> it
should terminate whatever it's doing and warm boot, though that might lead
you back to the BDOS Error. I don't remember whether CP/M retries its
submit files (like a DOS Autoexec.bat) on a warm boot.
Try to figure out what it's looking for. There might be a file of the form
*.sub, though that might be hidden, (look in user 15) which you can write
to a floppy formatted (heaven knows what that procedure is called on this
machine) right there on it's own drive so you'll have it. Perhaps you
should get someone local to you to help you find the missing item and save
it on a floppy.
I can send you a boot diskette, but there's no guarantee that it will
contain what your system is looking for because my system didn't have the
same OS.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Devon <bobcaar(a)cyberdude.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 1:32 PM
Subject: Re: Televideo TS-806/20
>My machine has one floppy, one HDD & no free bays. The floppy is a TEAC
>FD-55B-01-U. The hard drive is a CD JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES LTD. The only
>daughter board in it is the HDC board. There are around two empty small
>dip sockets under the drive rack. I finally got it to boot after a few
>power cycles.
>On boot it displays:
>System IPL from Hard disk in progress
>
>TELEVIDEO SYSTEM TS-806/20 V1.2
>60k CP/M Vers. 2.2
>Tandon TM-503 Winchester.
>
>Copyright 1985, Software 2000, Inc. (9/1541)
>Testing 64K of memory...............no errors
>A:OSMASTER.SYS loading from 915C to FFFF, size 6EA4
>TurboDOS 1.42, Copyright 1985, Software 2000, Inc. (9/1525)
>
>and I am left in TurboDOS. After a while, I started to get read errors.
>And now on boot I get:
>System IPL from Hard disk in progress
>
>TELEVIDEO SYSTEM TS-806/20 V1.2
>60k CP/M Vers. 2.2
>Tandon TM-503 Winchester.
>
>Bios Read Error on A:
>Track = 0002, Sector = 00
>WDC status = 51H, WDC error = 01H
>
>Bdos Err On A: Bad Sector
>
>So, It seems like I'm going to need that boot disk after all.
>Also, Do you know if this hard disk interface is MFM? If it is (as it
>looks), I can pop it into my 286 and try to salvage the data.
>
> T.H.x.
> Devon
>
>
>At 08:45 PM 11/06/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>>The computer has bays for two floppy and two hard disk drives. You do
have
>>to open it up to see them, but if you've seen the controller board, and if
>>you've seen the dip switches, you must know whether or not you have the
>>winchester drive(s). A -20 normally had a single 20MB drive, which, for
>>those days, was pretty decent. Two of them - WOW! that was a BIG
machine.
>>If you haven't got hard disks in the box, or if they're disconnected, you
>>should probably connect them up and try to see if they boot. That "IPL .
.
>>." message is what you get when it sees there's nothing in the Floppy
Drive.
>>Do you have a floppy drive? Let's figure out what's on this machine
before
>>we go off half-cocked.
>>
>>The boot disk is no big deal to create, though my '806's are both sitting
>>outdoors, having had their HDD's cannibalized years ago. I can probably
>>read the things with my AMPRO, which means I should be able to write them
as
>>well.
>>
>>I need to know whether your floppy drives are 48TPI or 96 TPI drives,
since
>>both were in common use.
>>
>>Next time you're inside the box, see what else is inside. Are there any
>>daughterboards, or are there any empty sockets?
>>
>>Dick
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Devon <bobcaar(a)cyberdude.com>
>>To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
>><classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
>>Date: Friday, June 11, 1999 8:28 PM
>>Subject: Re: Televideo TS-806/20
>>
>>
>>>I hadn't known thats what they were for (winch)...If I ever get some, I
bet
>>>I can rig something up. After fiddling around some more (thanks for the
>>>info, all), I've got it to work...kind of...When it starts it now says
>>>"System IPL from Hard disk in progress". Then no more... I know the disk
>>>booted before ...I could type garbage back when I was getting garbage
>>>(about 4 times before it quit)... It would be great if you could send me
a
>>>boot disk... Televideo hasn't replied to my e-mails yet...I'll give them
a
>>>few more days..
>>>
>>> T.H.x.
>>> Devon
>>>
>>>At 06:24 PM 11/06/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>>>>Well, I'm not sure I agree about the relative importance of cables with
>>>>which to interface a hard disk. That's probably the one thing that
makes
>>a
>>>>computer compute fast enough to be useful.
>>>>
>>>>First of all I'd try 9600 baud before anything else, since I believe
>>that's
>>>>the default. I don't remember what the board switches do, but I can
hunt
>>>>around for the manual and get back to you. I wouldn't use PCAW, as a
>>>>terminal, myself. I haven't had good luck with it. How about
>>Hyperterminal
>>>>of Procomm. I've used both of those in connection with a PC and had
>>better
>>>>luck than with PCAW, though I've had good luck using PCAW for file
>>>>transfers, etc.
>>>>
>>>>This box was ostensibly a file server and probably contains VERY
important
>>>>software, e.g. the MMMost (or whatever it was called) network OS, which
>>>>isn't around any longer. This box is capable of serving as a
single-user
>>>>system, but if you still have the HDD, from which it should boot all by
>>>>itself if it hasn't been roached up, you might want to preserve it.
>>>>
>>>>Well you're in luck . . . I got a phone interruption after which I
thought
>>>>of a place to look for the manual...Oddly enough, that's where it was.
>>>>
>>>>The manual says the "upper" four bits of the dip switch is used for
baud
>>>>rate settings. The lower four bits (5,6,7,8) are unused except for
>>position
>>>>8 which is reserved for diagnostics. Obviously, the one who wrote this
>>>>manual was on drugs. A closed switch is a zero.
>>>>
>>>>The baud rates go from 19.2K down to 75, with ascending values from 0000
>>to
>>>>1000, remembering that a 0 means CLOSED. Switch 1 is the lsb.
>>>>
>>>>I hope that helps you get it going!
>>>>
>>>>If you need a boot diskette, maybe I can help you there as well.
>>>>
>>>>Televideo, by the way, is still in business, so it's not inconceivable
>>they
>>>>might be able to help too, if you ask them.
>>>>
>>>>Dick
>>>
>>
>>
>
For those who are interested in IBM S36 gear here's a message thread copied
>from the newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.sys3x.misc.
Owner is near Ashville, NC. Contact her directly of course.
>From: lindabr(a)my-deja.com
>Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.sys3x.misc
>Subject: Re: IBI System/36 Model 5362 Available
>Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 04:27:03 GMT
-- snip rest of header --
>I'm located near Asheville, NC. Sorry to be so slow in answering--
>thought I had it taken care of, but alas they haven't come to get it.
>
>In article <37570010.D7D1FEDA(a)erols.com>,
> Shaye Hollander <shayeh(a)erols.com> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Where are you located??
>>
>> lindabr(a)my-deja.com wrote:
>>
>> > I'm an RPGII programmer and I have just lost my last customer. Is there
>> > anyone out there interested in a Model 5362 System/36 processor, 3 each
>> > 5291 terminal and a 5224 printer? Please let me know. I hate to just
>> > take it to the dump. Thanks Linda T. Brown
>>
Sounds to me like a rescue of an up-and-running machine!
Regards, Chris
-- --
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net
Member of Antique Wireless Association
Check our redesigned website!
URL: http://www.antiquewireless.org/
I'll try to fire up one of these babies and make you a boot diskette. Keep
in mind, however, that my boot diskette may not have a BIOS compatible with
your hard disk format on it, since mine is not an original TVI boot disk.
I'll need an address, however, since you can't build a boot disk from
binaries.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Devon <bobcaar(a)cyberdude.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 5:48 PM
Subject: Re: Televideo TS-806/20
>Drive A, on this machine, is the hard drive. So is Drive B. Drive C is the
>floppy (I had it running, before the HDD started to fail more and would no
>longer boot). Can you send me a boot disk?
>
> T.H.x.
> Devon
>
>At 05:16 PM 12/06/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>>you wrote
>>
>>"I can pop it into my 286 and try to salvage the data."
>>
>>NO!!!!! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!! YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY MOVE IT TO AN ENVIRONMENT
>>WHERE IT CANNOT BE ROACHED UP BY A PC OR OTHER MACHINE!!!!. Preferably a
>>county (better yet, country, or, better still, planet) totally devoid of
>>other computers.
>>
>>The floppy drive is a dsdd 48 tpi drive, quite standard, and, as the error
>>messages suggest, the system loaded from the hard disk expects to find
>>something on the FDD. All diskettes are not alike. Not even all boot
>>diskettes are alike, but you should have enough on the HDD to create a
boot
>>diskette from what's there and live happily ever after. You might even be
>>able to save the "network" OS, which it may have on it, though that's not
>>necessarily what YOU will want to do. Still, if someone else wants it,
>>you're better off with having it than not.
>>
>>What you have now works, though it's looking for something you probably
>>haven't got.
>>
>>Bdos Err On A: Bad Sector doesn't mean anything except that it can't read
>>what it thinks it ought to read on drive A, the floppy.
>>
>>if you hit <enter> a few times, it should give up. If you hit <CTL-C> it
>>should terminate whatever it's doing and warm boot, though that might lead
>>you back to the BDOS Error. I don't remember whether CP/M retries its
>>submit files (like a DOS Autoexec.bat) on a warm boot.
>>
>>Try to figure out what it's looking for. There might be a file of the
form
>>*.sub, though that might be hidden, (look in user 15) which you can
write
>>to a floppy formatted (heaven knows what that procedure is called on this
>>machine) right there on it's own drive so you'll have it. Perhaps you
>>should get someone local to you to help you find the missing item and save
>>it on a floppy.
>>
>>I can send you a boot diskette, but there's no guarantee that it will
>>contain what your system is looking for because my system didn't have the
>>same OS.
>>
>>Dick
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Devon <bobcaar(a)cyberdude.com>
>>To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
>><classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
>>Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 1:32 PM
>>Subject: Re: Televideo TS-806/20
>>
>>
>>>My machine has one floppy, one HDD & no free bays. The floppy is a TEAC
>>>FD-55B-01-U. The hard drive is a CD JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES LTD. The only
>>>daughter board in it is the HDC board. There are around two empty small
>>>dip sockets under the drive rack. I finally got it to boot after a few
>>>power cycles.
>>>On boot it displays:
>>>System IPL from Hard disk in progress
>>>
>>>TELEVIDEO SYSTEM TS-806/20 V1.2
>>>60k CP/M Vers. 2.2
>>>Tandon TM-503 Winchester.
>>>
>>>Copyright 1985, Software 2000, Inc. (9/1541)
>>>Testing 64K of memory...............no errors
>>>A:OSMASTER.SYS loading from 915C to FFFF, size 6EA4
>>>TurboDOS 1.42, Copyright 1985, Software 2000, Inc. (9/1525)
>>>
>>>and I am left in TurboDOS. After a while, I started to get read errors.
>>>And now on boot I get:
>>>System IPL from Hard disk in progress
>>>
>>>TELEVIDEO SYSTEM TS-806/20 V1.2
>>>60k CP/M Vers. 2.2
>>>Tandon TM-503 Winchester.
>>>
>>>Bios Read Error on A:
>>>Track = 0002, Sector = 00
>>>WDC status = 51H, WDC error = 01H
>>>
>>>Bdos Err On A: Bad Sector
>>>
>>>So, It seems like I'm going to need that boot disk after all.
>>>Also, Do you know if this hard disk interface is MFM? If it is (as it
>>>looks), I can pop it into my 286 and try to salvage the data.
>>>
>>> T.H.x.
>>> Devon
>>>
>>>
>>>At 08:45 PM 11/06/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>>>>The computer has bays for two floppy and two hard disk drives. You do
>>have
>>>>to open it up to see them, but if you've seen the controller board, and
if
>>>>you've seen the dip switches, you must know whether or not you have the
>>>>winchester drive(s). A -20 normally had a single 20MB drive, which, for
>>>>those days, was pretty decent. Two of them - WOW! that was a BIG
>>machine.
>>>>If you haven't got hard disks in the box, or if they're disconnected,
you
>>>>should probably connect them up and try to see if they boot. That "IPL
.
>>.
>>>>." message is what you get when it sees there's nothing in the Floppy
>>Drive.
>>>>Do you have a floppy drive? Let's figure out what's on this machine
>>before
>>>>we go off half-cocked.
>>>>
>>>>The boot disk is no big deal to create, though my '806's are both
sitting
>>>>outdoors, having had their HDD's cannibalized years ago. I can probably
>>>>read the things with my AMPRO, which means I should be able to write
them
>>as
>>>>well.
>>>>
>>>>I need to know whether your floppy drives are 48TPI or 96 TPI drives,
>>since
>>>>both were in common use.
>>>>
>>>>Next time you're inside the box, see what else is inside. Are there any
>>>>daughterboards, or are there any empty sockets?
>>>>
>>>>Dick
>>>>
>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>From: Devon <bobcaar(a)cyberdude.com>
>>>>To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
>>>><classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
>>>>Date: Friday, June 11, 1999 8:28 PM
>>>>Subject: Re: Televideo TS-806/20
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>I hadn't known thats what they were for (winch)...If I ever get some, I
>>bet
>>>>>I can rig something up. After fiddling around some more (thanks for
the
>>>>>info, all), I've got it to work...kind of...When it starts it now says
>>>>>"System IPL from Hard disk in progress". Then no more... I know the
disk
>>>>>booted before ...I could type garbage back when I was getting garbage
>>>>>(about 4 times before it quit)... It would be great if you could send
me
>>a
>>>>>boot disk... Televideo hasn't replied to my e-mails yet...I'll give
them
>>a
>>>>>few more days..
>>>>>
>>>>> T.H.x.
>>>>> Devon
>>>>>
>>>>>At 06:24 PM 11/06/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>>>>>>Well, I'm not sure I agree about the relative importance of cables
with
>>>>>>which to interface a hard disk. That's probably the one thing that
>>makes
>>>>a
>>>>>>computer compute fast enough to be useful.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>First of all I'd try 9600 baud before anything else, since I believe
>>>>that's
>>>>>>the default. I don't remember what the board switches do, but I can
>>hunt
>>>>>>around for the manual and get back to you. I wouldn't use PCAW, as a
>>>>>>terminal, myself. I haven't had good luck with it. How about
>>>>Hyperterminal
>>>>>>of Procomm. I've used both of those in connection with a PC and had
>>>>better
>>>>>>luck than with PCAW, though I've had good luck using PCAW for file
>>>>>>transfers, etc.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>This box was ostensibly a file server and probably contains VERY
>>important
>>>>>>software, e.g. the MMMost (or whatever it was called) network OS,
which
>>>>>>isn't around any longer. This box is capable of serving as a
>>single-user
>>>>>>system, but if you still have the HDD, from which it should boot all
by
>>>>>>itself if it hasn't been roached up, you might want to preserve it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Well you're in luck . . . I got a phone interruption after which I
>>thought
>>>>>>of a place to look for the manual...Oddly enough, that's where it was.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The manual says the "upper" four bits of the dip switch is used for
>>baud
>>>>>>rate settings. The lower four bits (5,6,7,8) are unused except for
>>>>position
>>>>>>8 which is reserved for diagnostics. Obviously, the one who wrote
this
>>>>>>manual was on drugs. A closed switch is a zero.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The baud rates go from 19.2K down to 75, with ascending values from
0000
>>>>to
>>>>>>1000, remembering that a 0 means CLOSED. Switch 1 is the lsb.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I hope that helps you get it going!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>If you need a boot diskette, maybe I can help you there as well.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Televideo, by the way, is still in business, so it's not inconceivable
>>>>they
>>>>>>might be able to help too, if you ask them.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Dick
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
Actually they could all write MFM (double density). The problem was that
some couldn't read what they had written because there was inadequate write
precompensation and the waveform peaks were at the wrong time during read
and their amplifiers weren't sensitive enough to catch them. In any case
what the COULD and what the DID were often not the same.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: tandon 848-2 8" floppy drive
>>
>> Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
>> floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
>
>Easiest way to see how many sides it can do is to look at the number of
>heads. If the thing on the 'top' side (away from the spindle) is a head
>(i.e. it has wires going to it), it's double sided.
>
>Also look at the number of index sensors. Most (all?) double-sided drives
>have 2 of them as the index hole is in different places on SS and DS 8"
>disks.
>
>AFAIK, almost all 8" drives, other than possibly the _very_ early ones
>can do double density.
>
>-tony
>
It's really quite simple. I looked at mine (not an easy trick, considering
where they were) and saw that they were plugged into the same oiwer supply
as my QUME or Shugart or whatever they were had been. They appear to have
the same power huukups as the older drives, except that there's no AC
power. Now, I can't swear to that, since it was dark in there, but I surely
didn't see an AC cable to the slimline drives. I don't know whether this
particular box has -5 or -12 to the drives, but I believe it's -5. That
works in more cases than the -12, since only SOME drives have the onboard
regulator for the negative supply.
As usual, you can be pretty safe assuming the obvious. I doubt the
manufacturers would have used the same supply connector if they hadn't
intended one to use the same supply.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Allison J Parent <allisonp(a)world.std.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 3:48 PM
Subject: Re: tandon 848-2 8" floppy drive
><Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
><floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
><so, then i would need to know some data about what type of power
><connector it uses.
>
>DS is easy, look for a top and bottom head. DD is easy as with rare
>exception all can do DD.
>
>The power connector is a different matter.
>
>Allison
>
Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
so, then i would need to know some data about what type of power
connector it uses.
-Lawrence LeMay
lemay(a)cs.umn.edu
<Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
<floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
<so, then i would need to know some data about what type of power
<connector it uses.
DS is easy, look for a top and bottom head. DD is easy as with rare
exception all can do DD.
The power connector is a different matter.
Allison
I have a couple of these, but, unfortunately no data. In my case, however,
they're in a system which, though it hasn't been turned on in five or six
years, is presumably functional. I imagine that at a minimum I can provide
you with information about power and jumpers for my CP/M application. These
drives are DSDD, by the way, and step at 3 ms or, in some cases, faster,
though my controllers won't go faster.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence LeMay <lemay(a)cs.umn.edu>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 2:18 PM
Subject: tandon 848-2 8" floppy drive
>Does anyone here have the specifications for a Tandon 848-2 8"
>floppy drive? Mainly i'm interested in if it is DSDD, and if
>so, then i would need to know some data about what type of power
>connector it uses.
>
>-Lawrence LeMay
> lemay(a)cs.umn.edu
<It's been my experience that the ONLY way to ensure that the autoinstall
<software of one of SMC's network boards works properly is to put it in a
<system which does not have PLUG_N_PLAY capability and then ensure it's the
Just installed one at work into a file/printserver (W95 and HP6000).
Did it by the book and it went as no big deal. I did as usual remove the
bad one delete it from the device profile first or W95 will get stupid.
I have PnP system of the early genreation types most are P133 and P166
with loads of lagacy stuff around and generally they behave. when they
don't I've found the manufacturers disk to be handy (Intel EPRO10/PnP
especially) to sort out the occasional errant card pulled from the spares
bin (used but known good).
Allison
Out of curiousity does anyone have a Harris H-500 preserved in their
collection? I was thinking about this today, I've not seen anything on any
Harris Mini's. This was the first real computer that I used/worked on.
Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
The computer has bays for two floppy and two hard disk drives. You do have
to open it up to see them, but if you've seen the controller board, and if
you've seen the dip switches, you must know whether or not you have the
winchester drive(s). A -20 normally had a single 20MB drive, which, for
those days, was pretty decent. Two of them - WOW! that was a BIG machine.
If you haven't got hard disks in the box, or if they're disconnected, you
should probably connect them up and try to see if they boot. That "IPL . .
." message is what you get when it sees there's nothing in the Floppy Drive.
Do you have a floppy drive? Let's figure out what's on this machine before
we go off half-cocked.
The boot disk is no big deal to create, though my '806's are both sitting
outdoors, having had their HDD's cannibalized years ago. I can probably
read the things with my AMPRO, which means I should be able to write them as
well.
I need to know whether your floppy drives are 48TPI or 96 TPI drives, since
both were in common use.
Next time you're inside the box, see what else is inside. Are there any
daughterboards, or are there any empty sockets?
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Devon <bobcaar(a)cyberdude.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, June 11, 1999 8:28 PM
Subject: Re: Televideo TS-806/20
>I hadn't known thats what they were for (winch)...If I ever get some, I bet
>I can rig something up. After fiddling around some more (thanks for the
>info, all), I've got it to work...kind of...When it starts it now says
>"System IPL from Hard disk in progress". Then no more... I know the disk
>booted before ...I could type garbage back when I was getting garbage
>(about 4 times before it quit)... It would be great if you could send me a
>boot disk... Televideo hasn't replied to my e-mails yet...I'll give them a
>few more days..
>
> T.H.x.
> Devon
>
>At 06:24 PM 11/06/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>>Well, I'm not sure I agree about the relative importance of cables with
>>which to interface a hard disk. That's probably the one thing that makes
a
>>computer compute fast enough to be useful.
>>
>>First of all I'd try 9600 baud before anything else, since I believe
that's
>>the default. I don't remember what the board switches do, but I can hunt
>>around for the manual and get back to you. I wouldn't use PCAW, as a
>>terminal, myself. I haven't had good luck with it. How about
Hyperterminal
>>of Procomm. I've used both of those in connection with a PC and had
better
>>luck than with PCAW, though I've had good luck using PCAW for file
>>transfers, etc.
>>
>>This box was ostensibly a file server and probably contains VERY important
>>software, e.g. the MMMost (or whatever it was called) network OS, which
>>isn't around any longer. This box is capable of serving as a single-user
>>system, but if you still have the HDD, from which it should boot all by
>>itself if it hasn't been roached up, you might want to preserve it.
>>
>>Well you're in luck . . . I got a phone interruption after which I thought
>>of a place to look for the manual...Oddly enough, that's where it was.
>>
>>The manual says the "upper" four bits of the dip switch is used for baud
>>rate settings. The lower four bits (5,6,7,8) are unused except for
position
>>8 which is reserved for diagnostics. Obviously, the one who wrote this
>>manual was on drugs. A closed switch is a zero.
>>
>>The baud rates go from 19.2K down to 75, with ascending values from 0000
to
>>1000, remembering that a 0 means CLOSED. Switch 1 is the lsb.
>>
>>I hope that helps you get it going!
>>
>>If you need a boot diskette, maybe I can help you there as well.
>>
>>Televideo, by the way, is still in business, so it's not inconceivable
they
>>might be able to help too, if you ask them.
>>
>>Dick
>
It's been my experience that the ONLY way to ensure that the autoinstall
software of one of SMC's network boards works properly is to put it in a
system which does not have PLUG_N_PLAY capability and then ensure it's the
only card other than the controller and video board. That will tell you
right away whether it's jumpered/set-up the way you thought, and it will
allow you to fix it provided you're not trying to program a conflict of
either address space or interrupt.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Sellam Ismail <dastar(a)ncal.verio.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: OT request: need SIIG and SMC network drivers
>On Sat, 12 Jun 1999, Francois wrote:
>
>> I sometimes found cards that did not work and were impossible to
configure
>> though EZSTART or whatever the utility is, it would tell me that there
was
>> no NIC in the computer. In that case I always had to toss the card and
try a
>> new one.
>
>Darn, I was hopeing you were going to pass on some wisdom as to how to get
>the card working again. I'm getting the same symptoms, so I guess its
>time to toss the card and try a new one.
>
>Thanks for the help, All.
>
>Sellam Alternate e-mail:
dastar(a)siconic.com
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
>
> Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
> See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
> [Last web site update: 05/25/99]
>
Damn, the only two ISA network cards I can find and can't get drivers for
niether. What a pain in the arse.
I've got a SIIG network card with the driver RETH.COM (ODI driver for
Netware) but for the life of me can't figure out how to pass in the IO
address and IRQ parameters. Siig's website makes no mention of their
network cards oddly (rather stupidly) enough.
I've got an SMC Ether EZ 10Mbps but can't find the proper Netware
ODI driver for it on their stupid website.
Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 05/25/99]
