test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>> Some options for UNIBUS have a U as the second or third of >> the option name... dhU, dU. But generally, the UNIBUS options >> are two-character names, DL, DH, DZ, VT, etc... As always, there >> are exceptions, like DUP, DMC, DMR... >Is there a guide somewhere that explains what all the codes translate to? Ron Copley's venerable "Field Guide to Q-bus and Unibus Modules" contains, in most cases, the option name as well as the module number in the description. For example: M8053-AA DMV11 Q Microprogrammed controller (needs one of M5930- M5931) (Also M8053-AB, -AC, -ETC) Generally, a "D" at the front means it's some sort of communications option, a "M" means memory, a "K" means CPU, "R" means disk controller, a "T" means a tape controller, an "A" means an A/D or D/A converter, a "V" means some sort of video-related hardware, and "L" means either a line printer or a linear module. I'm sure someone will come up with many options that don't quite fit into this scheme :-). The field guide claims at its top: *This list may always be found on sunsite.unc.edu, in the following *directory: */pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/hardware/field-guide.txt *(Tonnes of stuff here... thanks, Tim!) -- 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

26 years, 8 months

Lisp, the machine language. Was Re: Hallelujah!

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>the WD Pascal microengine. Why was it done? In the late 70s Pascal was >emerging as a teaching language and it was highly standardized. Most >small systems had the resources to run it as native compiled but the >authors (UCSD) decided that portable Pcode would allow more platforms >to run it as the Pengine was easier to code than a whole compiler. Not only that, but the P-code was often more compact than the equivalent native machine code. (It's probably even more compact than modern RISCy processor code.) Compactness of code is an enormous advantage in a limited memory-space environment. Tim.

26 years, 8 months

Lisp, the machine language. Was Re: Hallelujah!

by hhacker＠home.com

>Actually, I thought they had microcode or assmebly language. Therefore, >they have a compiler to create the microcode or assembly language. It may >not be well-documented (or advertised) but it's there. > >-- Derek This is a mistaken impression. Actually, microcode is not compiled. For any computer which is microprogrammed, there is a sequence of microinstructions which implements each executable statement of the computer. In the case of the Lisp machine (such as those built by Symbolics - like the 3600), the machine instructions are, in fact, the operators of Lisp. So, there is within the microcode of a List machine a sequence of microinstructions which implements directly the function of a Lisp operator, such as CAR. As it happens, it is easily possible for any of use to obtaine the so-called MacIvory, which is a Lisp machine that operates within the MacIntosh computer. It is a co-processor much like the i860 based board that I bought several years back from MicroWay. The i860 is a single chip implementation of the Cray-1, (you know, Harvard archetecture, and the like), and provides just about the same throughput as the Cray-1. An old high-school buddy of mine worked for Symbolics, and today does Lisp programming at Moffett Field for NASA Ames. He is quite well acquainted with the microcode of the 3600, and it is upon his instruction that I became equally familiar. William R. Buckley

26 years, 8 months

Computer busses....

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<This reminds me of the Intersil 6100 which had a special "front panel" mod <designed to hold code and data to run the (presumably flashy) front panel. Same for the 6120 (has EMA interally). IT was presumed due to the micros lack of front pannel you would need startup code or emulation code. <would be getting a 6100). I did the design/layout/prototype of a 6100 CPU They can be found especially the 6120 version. If not a DECMate is a good source(they are hardly rare). Allison

26 years, 8 months

bringing up an 8f...

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<>> Put boards (all but core) and regulator board in dishwasher and <> dried them in the oven. < <Eek! Really? Does this work? Yep. In the past (over 20 years ago) I used to do it in the sink with a bristle paint brush and some liquid soap. <Were these just the power supply boards, or all of the OMNIBUS <boards too? All but the core plane and front pannel itself. The little cores would not like the blasts of water pusing them around. I didn't want the switches washed out as then I'd have to get some lubricant back into them. I've done this with all sorts of boards to get gunk off them and it's basically how boards are cleaned at factory. HINT, keep the temps below 200f. <I recently got a PDP8/E system (it runs well), with 16K core and <8K solid state memory, and it's really grubby inside, and I've been <thinking about how to clean it all up. Can you share some secrets <on the settings used, ie: do you use any soap in the dishwasher? I put it in and ran standard cycle (short wash). The CORE planes do not ever go in and also if there are switches that can trap water special care may need to be taken. Things must be dry before power up or electrolisys and other bad things happen. Pure water is generally harmless. Soap, I used one of the standard products that seems to work well on glasses. Allison

26 years, 8 months

homemade computer for fun and experience...

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<have something concrete in mind, too. If one inserts a wire-wrap 62 pin <(8-bit ISA) connector into a DIN 41612 right-angle socket, such as what on <finds on a VME wire-wrap board, but of opposite gender, (remembering that <once sold S-100 wire-wrap boards with a pattern certainly suitable for thi <purpose, and VME wire-wrap cards as well) one can, indeed, host two 8-bit Been there and done that. Also there are no less than two articles on how to go from s100 to ISA. <ISA cards on a single s-100 board. This would certainly be cheap enough i <most cases, to warrant such an effort. The software might get to be a <problem, though. What software problem... since s100 cards tend to be all different anyway it would be the norm that software would have to be created. Allison

26 years, 8 months

homemade computer for fun and experience...

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<memory mapping would be a mite silly, wouldn't it, given that the HERC use <64K of refresh RAM. I'd say the way to do it is to use a strategy put fort No, you partition in to 16k quads and your off. <by the guys who designed the 6545, the '65xx' version of the 6845. It had <an update register which essentially allowed you to write an address to th <chip and then send a stream of characters, kind of like the cursor <addressing on a terminal. Run a kaypro some time... slower than sludge video. <Some scheme like that would work even in the limited I/O space of a Z-80. <Another option might be to bank the BIOS such that when it's writing to or <reading from the video page, it has a space equal to the disk buffers, whic <works as a window in the display RAM. The refresh of the display would kee <the entire video memory refreshed, while the banking scheme could minimize <the memory consumption of the video device. Full circle. Hence the need for a MMU. Me I'd never use the 6845/herc in graphic modes. For text the Herc cards only need 4k. <The PC certainly has made for cheaper serial/parallel interfaces than we <ever saw for the S-100. It's too bad there were never any truly general Volume will do that. <purpose parallel ports use commonly enough on the PC to make them cheap. <It's only since the adoption of the 1284 standard that bidirectional I/O vi <the printer port has been practical. It's too bad there aren't <i8255-equivalents which can drive something. The problem with my IMSAI <PIO-6 is that it won't even drive an LED directly. That's why things are buffered. the 8255 will drive a few feet of ribbon but generally thngs like ground loops and other anomolies make a buffered interface more robust. At the time of the 8255 heyday the output current was limited by the Nmos process of the time to only a few mA. Now, the CMOS processes can easily do 30-70 mA but... you can still fry them. Allison

26 years, 8 months

Hard-sectored 5.25" disks

by fox-1＠aq.nl

Hello everyone, Last week I bought a pile of hard-sectored 5.25" disks. Most are used, but are still in their original plastic box. Most disks have a lable saying: AES diskette, Single Sided, Single Density. Since I'm an Atari 8-bit freak, I don't have a real use for these, however they can be used on 3/4 of my diskdrives since these do not use the index-hole for anything. Someone in an Atari usegroup asked me to write a msg over here before starting to write Atari-data on them. I have some CP/M's laying around, but they seem to work well without the use of hard-sectored disks too, so.... If someone wants them, I'll swap them for anything ATARI-related. If not, I'll just format them, and write Atari 8-bit data on it. Would be nice if someone could pick them up in the south-part of the Netherlands. I have no idea what it would cost to send them by snailmail, cause I have more then 200 of them. please note: I'm not subscribing to this newsgroup, so Email me at: "fox-1 AT aq DOT nl" Sysop Fox-1, Thunderdome, ATARI 8-Bit BBS, +31 416-279990 (21:00 => 8:00 CET)

26 years, 8 months

AES 7100

by ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca

Hi again, I conscripted my father to come and help me drag the AES 7100 home today. It doesn't work. The display powers up but nothing is displayed. The drives never turn but their lights shine at the instant the power switch is flipped. I suspect its not working has something to do with several empty sockets on the motherboard, but I can't be sure. Even with it not working, it's an interesting machine. It's a little over 26.5-inches wide, and over 16-inches deep if you include the handles on the back for pulling out the motherboard. The main box is about 4.25-inches high, with a 10.5" green phosphor monitor sitting on top of it, connected with a swivel neck. The top of the monitor sits about 16" above the surface of the table. The disk drive portion of the box is about 10.5" high and 9.25" wide, and is visually disconnected >from the rest of the box in the same way that an Apple III keyboard is visually disconnected from the rest of the III... still built on the same metal frame underneath. The motherboard pulls out on a tray from the back of the machine, with only two screws holding it in. There are numerous holes for ports of various sizes, but most of them have metal plates screwed over them and nothing behind them. Unscrewing the plates usually reveals a picture of a telephone handset beside the hole. There are plenty of post holes in the motherboard in locations that match the holes in the back of the case, so there must have been plenty of options. My own machine only has one small daughtercard sitting on posts, with a 50-pin male edge connector accessible from a hole with a drawing of a printer beside it. There is also a 12-pin female port with a drawing of a printer beside it, with the pins arranged in a 3x4 grid. On the motherboard, there is a Mostek Z80A, probably 4MHz. There are three Z80A PIO chips, and two Z80A CTC chips, and several other large multi-legged critters. There are three 8-chip banks of 4164 DRAMs, with a fourth row left empty. That's quite a bit of memory for a Z80! There is a 24-pin EPROM, with an empty 24-pin socket beside it. There is a set of two other 24-pin chips which might be ROMs. There are two other empty sockets, one with 18 pins and the other with 16 pins. There is a 15.something MHz crytal, and a 24.0000MHz crystal. There is oodles of TTL. Chips range in dates from '79 to '82. The keyboard connector inside the machine is cracked and broken and won't stay in place. The keyboard is larger than it has to be, with lots of photogenic whitespace around the key areas. The area that would normally be a numeric keypad on a normal keyboard has pictograms of unknown function. The key which must be the caps lock lights up when it is hit, but the light doesn't turn off if you hit it again. It only turns off when the keys which must be shift keys are hit. The disk drives are full-height, single-sided. It has a plate with "7100" on the front, but a small plate on the back says "AES Model 203". The monitor has no external controls, but there is what appears to be a trapdoor on the back of the monitor which is screwed shut. Perhaps I should try messing with that before I decide that the machine is definitely dead. There is another machine just like it at the same store, even grimier than this one was. But considering the hassle of hauling and storing this thing, I don't think I'll have the energy to go back for it. -- Doug Spence ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/

26 years, 8 months

Lisp, the machine language. Was Re: Hallelujah!

by hhacker＠home.com

Of course, LISP is also compiled these days... >-- Derek Not if it runs on a Lisp Machine! William R. Buckley

26 years, 8 months

bringing up an 8f...

by allisonp＠world.std.com

Status report: I've rebuilt the power supply. This was done after the following steps: Open PS and remove the bad rectifer bridge and shorted 24,000MFd cap. Vacuum out all the decomposed foam. Put boards (all but core) and regulator board in dishwasher and dried them in the oven. Reassembled and tested power supply in stages. Working. Replaced three fans. No I have the system up and running save for one bit that is stuck (when displaying MD). The display bit is stuck as test programs run verifying it's a front pannel problem. It's bit 1 and only with the switch in the MD position. So far this is good success considering the heaviest test gear used is a multimeter. Also that I don't have a print set for 8E. Allison

26 years, 8 months

homemade computer for fun and experience...

by edick＠idcomm.com

What might be fun would be an S-100 card to serve as an interface to a Monochrome/Hercules equivalent card and an IBM-style keyboard, since these can be had complete with the rest of the computer for $5 at nearly any thrift store. That would save the hassle of having an extra keyboard and monitor for your "extra" PC. . . . . you know, the one you stick strange cards in in order to see if they cause the system to "HCF" (Halt and Catch Fire). One of those little switch boxes would serve just fine. The 8.0 MHz Z80 wouldn't be sufficient to drive a VGA, so no need for anything fancy. It could even support two short ISA cards. 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, April 03, 1999 6:26 PM Subject: Re: homemade computer for fun and experience... ><IF you can stick the XT keyboard (are keyboards that talk that protocol ><still being made?) then look at the circuit of the PC or XT. The keyboard ><interface is a few TTL chips hung off an 8255. > >At keyboards can be used as well as they are similar (not the same). You'll >have to make a interface as the serial is not compatable with UARTs, also >you will have to convert the key down/Key up codes to something more human. > ><I'd make it modular (in that I'd have expansion slots), but I'd probably ><put the CPU + RAM + basic I/O on the 'motherboard'. For prototyping, ><DIN41612 connectors are easier than edge connectors because you don't ><need special boards with the connector fingers on them. > >An acceptable bus is ISA-8bit and there are plenty of FDC, VIDEO, HDC cards >for that bus that could easily interface to z80. > ><SRAM is a _lot_ easier. And now that 64K SRAM is 2 chips at most (62256's ><are cheap now), I'd use that. DRAM is not too hard until you realise that ><layout and decoupling are critical if you want to avoild random errors. > >Same comment, one proviso, if your doing over 256k consider DRAM and MMU. >a good article for that is at the TCJ site. > ><[For the hardware wizards here : Yes you can homebrew with DRAM - I've ><done it. But not as my first real project]. > >For a z80 system of 64 or 128k static is far easier. Also 128kx8 parts are >cheap so even 256k or 512k ram systems are modest. > >Allison >

26 years, 8 months

RLV11/RL02 ->11/73?

by mbg＠world.std.com

> Wait... will RLV11s go in the 11/44??? That would be major cool, >as well... No, RLV is for Qbus... generally, if you find an option which has a Q or V as the third letter in the option name, it is for Qbus. For example, dlV, dhV, dhQ, dzV, dzQ, vsV, etc... Some options for UNIBUS have a U as the second or third of the option name... dhU, dU. But generally, the UNIBUS options are two-character names, DL, DH, DZ, VT, etc... As always, there are exceptions, like DUP, DMC, DMR... Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

26 years, 8 months

RLV11/RL02 ->11/73?

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>Zane H. Healy wrote: > >I'e done it with both using the correct backplanes. As I remember the > >SMS1000 is a bit strange in the boot deperatment. Jerome Fine replies: >My box has a single 8" floppy which is DSDD in capacity for a total of >1976 blocks. The drive is also set up the detect SSDD floppy media >as well as DSSD and SSSD media. BUT, the device type is for the >MSCP emulation. AND the DSDD interface switches from side 1 to >side 2 for each cylinder (or track since there is only one double-sided >surface) within the firmware. Since this behaviour is outside the control >of the device driver (MSCP is DU:), the use of DSDD media is quite >a surprise as compared to the RX03 implementation on a DSD >880/30 which uses the same floppy media, but uses the whole first >side of the media followed by the second side of the media as >programmed within the DY(X).SYS software device driver in >RT-11. These block-numbering issues are addressed by Chester Wilson's "DYC" handler, to an extent. To quote from the documentation: *This handler is designed for Sigma/Dilog RX03 controllers, with optional *assembly for DEC, MTI, and DSD ones. It may need minor modification *(notably to the extended addressing and formatting code) for other *manufacturers' boards. *... *In version 4, support for the SMS flavour of RX03 format has been added *(courtesy of discs from Billy Youdelman). Sources to this code are available at http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/rt/bill… This code also knows how to format completely blank floppy disks into DEC-compatible RX01 or RX02 on many third-party controllers under RT-11/TSX. >As soon as I finish my tax returns and clean up a few other >things Don't you have till April 30th up there? (I have to get the Canadian forms for the money I earned in Canada last year, still...) -- 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

26 years, 8 months

Apple stuff....

by roblwill＠usaor.net

>Geez! Trade em some more modern hardware for what you want/need. I've >been giving away lots of Mac IICi's for the last 2 years now, since >the university here keeps throwing em away. Another department here >has been trying to sell mac IICi's for $15 each, and it doesnt look like >they are selling em at that price. > Where are you located? I wouldn't mind getting one of those Macs. My church has also been looking for a couple old Macs for their education center, since there's a Mac guru that goes to my church (anyone need System 7.5 or System 7.5.x updates??) >I dont have any TRS-80's in my collection (except one mutant model 4), >and if they have any REAL apple II's (ie, not a plus model, the real >integer basic II's), it would seem to be a nice trade.. I imagine >they would love a 486 system, or even a good 386, if all they have >are TRS-80's and Apple II series computers. > I think They have a couple that they use (at least they did when I went there) for their card scanner (for bubble-sheet tests). The only TRS-80 that I have is a fried Model III that I've gutted and am trying to convert it using some old Tandy 1000 parts (anyone know how to connect a TRS-80 monitor to a CGA or composite output?) -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> >-Lawrence LeMay >lemay(a)cs.umn.edu >

26 years, 8 months

4116's and other memory

by edick＠idcomm.com

If they're Intel parts, I think they're a variation of the 2117, which is an Intel version of the 4116. It may, however, be the other way around, i.e. the 2117 may be the variant. Back in those days, Mostek was the leader in DRAM technology and the 41xx number is essentially theirs, though other manufacturers used it as well. The National numbers differed from this practice. Their equivalent was the MM5290. I'll have to go back and verify all this, but I do believe that they can safely be replaced with 4116's or their equivalent. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Monday, March 29, 1999 2:58 PM Subject: Re: 4116's and other memory >Dick, > > I have a machine that uses 2116s. What are they? Fortunately I don't >need any at the moment but let me know if you have any so I'll know where >I can get them if I have to. > > Joe > >At 10:57 AM 3/29/99 -0700, you wrote: > >>If you have other "old" memory needs, e.g. 2115's (Intel 1kx1's, 25 ns) or >>maybe something equally out of date, let me know where you would use them >>and maybe I can help you out. >> >>Dick >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Megan <mbg(a)world.std.com> >>To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers >><classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> >>Date: Monday, March 29, 1999 10:43 AM >>Subject: Re: Picture of my latest haul >> >> >>> >>>>Who was the nut who mounted the CPU units near your ankles? Looks like >>>>you're suposed to lie on your belly in order to read the displays and >>>>toggle the switches! >>> >>>Well, the lowest of the machines (the pdp-8/e and pdp-8/f) were >>>actually not even configured for operation... they were simply >>>stuck in the racks, taking up space. The 8/f now has a home with >>>Allison, so there is empty space in the 11/34 rack... which I will >>>probably fill with an RL01 (or RL02 if I can find one). >>> >>>The pdp-8/a, which doesn't have any blinkenlights, was the actual >>>operating machine for the person who owned it before... its >>>backplane can handle a hex board, which was required for the RL8 >>>controller, apparently. >>> >>>The 8/e is currently out of the rack as I figure out what I'm going >>>to do next... >>> >>> Megan Gentry >>> Former RT-11 Developer >>> >>>+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ >>>| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | >>>| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | >>>| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | >>>| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | >>>| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | >>>| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | >>>+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ >>> >> >> >

26 years, 8 months

Messed up Apple (clone) video

by ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca

Hi, Along with a dead 4116 (which I recently replaced with a hacked 4164), my Microcom II+ (Apple II+ clone) has a video problem which has kept me >from using it for the past few years. Usually when it's cold, the display is a complete mess. As it warms up, the image becomes clear but in four parts. Each quarter (corner) of the screen is a mini-image of what should be displayed on the whole screen. Out of each group of four pixels of what would be displayed normally, each will be displayed in a different quadrant of the screen. After about 10 minutes, the screen becomes normal, with occasional "zaps" and returns to the quartered screen image. Just about everything in the II+ is TTL, so it's probably just a matter of knowing which piece of TTL to replace. Does anyone know? I'm looking at the schematics (for a _real_ Apple II) now, but I have no idea how to locate the problem because there are several lines leading to the video output, and the problem chip may be farther back into the curcuitry and not connected directly to the output. I know that some of you are fairly expert with Apple hardware. I want to get the Microcom II+ working because it's the only machine I've got that's capable of using my Z80 Softcard or my SMC-II Light Pen. Neither will work in my Apple //e. Besides, it also has a better keyboard than the //e, once it's been worked in to cure the 'bounce'. (As an addition note on the machine's history: The machine was repaired at the Microcom store in early 1987, and it came back with a loose, drifty keyboard. I found out the reason was that the keyboard's curcuit board had been cracked and the keyboard only works if it's not screwed in too tightly. I'll get around to looking at that after the video is fixed. It's just one corner that's folded a bit, but there are traces on there! The keyboard tends to report the wrong characters when it's screwed in properly.) -- Doug Spence ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/

26 years, 8 months

4116's and other memory

by edick＠idcomm.com

In the event any of those reading this list are in truly desperate need of 4116's to resuscitate you elderly computers, please let me know. I have a supply of these which though limited is excessive. They're yours for the postage, provided you have an otherwise running system in which to use them. There should be no need for disfuguring an original board in order to make a part foreign to its design work in place of what belongs there. I also, incidentally, have some of the 18 (?) -pin dual DRAMs made for the Apple-III's memory board, and, in fact, have a spare apple-iii memory daughterboard which is serving no useful purpose here. If you've got an apple-III with memory problems, perhaps this is for you. If you have other "old" memory needs, e.g. 2115's (Intel 1kx1's, 25 ns) or maybe something equally out of date, let me know where you would use them and maybe I can help you out. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Megan <mbg(a)world.std.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Monday, March 29, 1999 10:43 AM Subject: Re: Picture of my latest haul > >>Who was the nut who mounted the CPU units near your ankles? Looks like >>you're suposed to lie on your belly in order to read the displays and >>toggle the switches! > >Well, the lowest of the machines (the pdp-8/e and pdp-8/f) were >actually not even configured for operation... they were simply >stuck in the racks, taking up space. The 8/f now has a home with >Allison, so there is empty space in the 11/34 rack... which I will >probably fill with an RL01 (or RL02 if I can find one). > >The pdp-8/a, which doesn't have any blinkenlights, was the actual >operating machine for the person who owned it before... its >backplane can handle a hex board, which was required for the RL8 >controller, apparently. > >The 8/e is currently out of the rack as I figure out what I'm going >to do next... > > Megan Gentry > Former RT-11 Developer > >+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ >| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | >| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | >| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | >| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | >| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | >| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | >+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ >

26 years, 8 months

Apple stuff....

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Does anyone have (or know where to get) an old (b/w) Apple ImageWriter printer for under $20? I also need a cable to connect an Apple //c to a printer. ThAnX, -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1>

26 years, 8 months

Hard-sectored 5.25" disks

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

At 06:34 AM 3/28/99 -0500, Doug wrote: >Maybe next month I'll drag home something with an 8" drive. :) > Doug, how far are you from British Columbia? I know where there's a Tektronix 4051 AND a 4052 up for sale. Both can use optional 8" drives, I think they have drives but I'm not sure. I'm in Florida, so it's a mite too far for me to go get. Joe

26 years, 8 months

New arrivals to the Vintage Computer Festival Archives!

by bill＠chipware.com

> They've gotten bent and misaligned during the journey this thing took from > General Electric's Nuclear Division to my warehouse. Uh... Doesn't glow in the dark does it?

26 years, 8 months

RLV11/RL02 ->11/73?

by jpl15＠netcom.com

This message is for Zane Healy, but I thought it would maybe help some others on The List. First: Many, Many thanks to Dave Jenner, from whom (in Seattle) I recieved a kilopound of RL02s and related items. I am still sorting thru things, in a desperate pitched battle to reclaim at least part of my house from my 'collection' ;] In a box (from Dave, IIRC) I have found (3) three RLV11 cardsets, the printsets for same, and the printsets and drawings for the RL01 and 02. This is kinda like going thru the pockets of an old coat and finding a couple of hundred-dollar bills (pound notes, Deutschmarks, Rupees, etc...) I know that Zane has successfully attached RL02s to his 11/73, and I wanna do that, too... The 11/73 has an RQDX2 and one RX02 8"... tell me how much more info to provide and I'll do that. I'm going to try to install the boards, but the little backplane is stuffed and I need to re-arrange some things. Wait... will RLV11s go in the 11/44??? That would be major cool, as well... I need so much more doc than I have here right now, and my ISDN line is down (thanks a bazillion, GTE) so surfing the web's a pain... waah waaaahh wahh whiney luser lart lart lart. Cheers and Thanks John

26 years, 8 months

FW: Many older computer books, software manuals, and electronic data books (last chance moving sale)

by kyrrin＠my-dejanews.com

I don't know if this fellow has anything of interest or not, but the documentation hunters may want to contact him directly... -=-=- <break> -=-=- On Sun, 04 Apr 1999 03:41:25 GMT, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc you wrote: >>From: Tiger(a)nospam_address.org (Tiger) >>Newsgroups: alt.marketplace.books,misc.books.technical,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,misc.forsale.computers.other.misc >>Subject: FS: Many older computer books, software manuals, and electronic data books (last chance moving sale) >>Message-ID: <371bde4e.25263337(a)news.silcom.com> >>X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/32.452 >>X-No-Archive: yes >>MIME-Version: 1.0 >>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >>Lines: 56 >>Date: Sun, 04 Apr 1999 03:41:25 GMT >>NNTP-Posting-Host: 207.71.222.92 >>X-Trace: newsfeed.avtel.net 923197029 207.71.222.92 (Sat, 03 Apr 1999 19:37:09 PST) >>NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 03 Apr 1999 19:37:09 PST >>Organization: Avtel Communications >>Path: news1.jps.net!news-west.eli.net!newsbox.grin.net!uunet!ffx.uu.net!in2.uu.net!WCG!newsfeed.avtel.net!not-for-mail >>Xref: news1.jps.net alt.marketplace.books:777 misc.books.technical:28 comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:95 misc.forsale.computers.other.misc:212 >> >>x-no-archive: yes >> >>I'M MOVING VERY SOON. If these items are not gone in a couple weeks they >>will be donated to charity, or I will keep and pay to move them. >> >>Please see the end of this message for my correct email address. >>------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >>BOOKS - I have a couple hundred computer books, programming books, >>electronic data books, and technical books (a lot of reference books are for >>Apple and Amiga, such as the Addision-Wesley series) -- most are from the >>1980's. I also have a few math and physics textbooks. >> >>If someone were to buy all my books I'd probably sell most of them at an average >>price of $2-$3 each (less if you pick them up in person). There are a few, such >>as the Apple and Amiga development/technical books that I'd want more than >>$5 each. >> >>SOFTWARE MANUALS - a couple hundred manuals without the disks for things like >>Borland Turbo products, Microsoft products (C/C++, Visual Basic, FoxPro, etc), >>DBase III+ and IV, Autocad, etc. If someone were to buy all of these, I'd >>probably sell most of them at an average price of $1 each (less if you pick them >>up in person). >> >>Please look at my lists and feel free to ignore the prices and make reasonable >>offers. My main criteria are: I have to get enough money to make the transaction >>worth the effort and the amount needs to be reasonably close to what I think >>I'll get from my charitable donations. >> >>All of my lists are at: >> >>http://www.silcom.com/~tiger >> >>As I mentioned above, if you can come by Santa Barbara, California, and pick up >>a lot of stuff in person we'll work out a really good deal. You don't have to >>buy *everything* to get a great price but it needs to be a signficant amount. >>I'm tired of wasting my time on small transactions. Anything under $50 is small >>in my eyes and barely worth the trouble. I don't start to get too interested >>until the amount exceeds $100. I have a total of about 500 books to thin out >>in less than 2 weeks (all deals need to be worked out by the end of next week). >>Selling a few books here and there doesn't make a dent. I want someone to >>clean me out of most of my books! Aren't there any computer book museum >>collectors? >> >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>Send email to tiger(a)silWXYZcom.com - Remove WXYZ to reply. >> >>For other computer hardware, software, and books for Amiga, Apple, Atari, >>Commodore, IBM, Macintosh, and TI-99/4A please visit my web page at: >> http://www.silcom.com/~tiger >> >>I'm requesting a $20 minimum transaction (before shipping). Money orders >>are required because I no longer have time to wait for checks to clear. >> >>This will probably be the last time I post these items for sale. If you're >>interested in something, buy it now or never. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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..."

26 years, 8 months

homemade computer for fun and experience...

by edick＠idcomm.com

memory mapping would be a mite silly, wouldn't it, given that the HERC uses 64K of refresh RAM. I'd say the way to do it is to use a strategy put forth by the guys who designed the 6545, the '65xx' version of the 6845. It had an update register which essentially allowed you to write an address to the chip and then send a stream of characters, kind of like the cursor addressing on a terminal. Some scheme like that would work even in the limited I/O space of a Z-80. Another option might be to bank the BIOS such that when it's writing to or reading from the video page, it has a space equal to the disk buffers, which works as a window in the display RAM. The refresh of the display would keep the entire video memory refreshed, while the banking scheme could minimize the memory consumption of the video device. The PC certainly has made for cheaper serial/parallel interfaces than we ever saw for the S-100. It's too bad there were never any truly general purpose parallel ports use commonly enough on the PC to make them cheap. It's only since the adoption of the 1284 standard that bidirectional I/O via the printer port has been practical. It's too bad there aren't i8255-equivalents which can drive something. The problem with my IMSAI PIO-6 is that it won't even drive an LED directly. 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, April 03, 1999 8:54 PM Subject: Re: homemade computer for fun and experience... ><What might be fun would be an S-100 card to serve as an interface to a ><Monochrome/Hercules equivalent card and an IBM-style keyboard, since these > >They do exist! Hercules made cards for the s100 machines that ran DOS! > ><Fire). One of those little switch boxes would serve just fine. The 8.0 MH ><Z80 wouldn't be sufficient to drive a VGA, so no need for anything fancy. > >Why not? I'm currently planning to use ISA16 and herc video for a z280 >system. Z280 has a 16 bit bus mode. The only thing needed to support >herc using a z80 is a MMU to allow mapping the display out of the address >space so that you have room for CP/M. I've done some testing to verify >this will work. > ><It could even support two short ISA cards. > >More if you buffer the bus! > >Allison >

26 years, 8 months

Floor tiles

by william＠ans.net

Here is a dumb question... Are European floor tiles for computer rooms 2 feet square, like those found in the U.S., or are they smaller? I am trying to find out how big the ETA-10P Pipers are, and I have picture that has a floor tile as a reference. The image, http://www.tno.nl/instit/fel/museum/computer/eta10p.jpg, is rather funny looking, as the people make the box look small. William Donzelli william(a)ans.net

26 years, 8 months

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