On 1998-03-17 classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu said to lisard(a)zetnet.co.uk
:<the 8080 c.1977 which was a non-trivial self-contained interactive
:<interpreter, in 256 bytes including space for your own UART drivers.
:Simple yes, useful?
there have been a few tiny languages built over the years. there was
SIMPLE (and can someone describle it here please?); WADUZITDO, which
looked like a tiny PILOT and also fit into 256 bytes; FALSE, a 1k
compiler for a Forth-like language on the Amiga; BRAINFUCK, a 256-byte
compiler for a very simple language indeed, also on the Amiga; and
several versions of Forth and Basic which could fit inside 4k. of
course, the capabilities of the forth would probably rather outweigh
those of the basic... ;>
--
Communa (together) we remember... we'll see you falling
you know soft spoken changes nothing to sing within her...
I've compiled a list of known hardware and software for the Mattel / Radofin
Aquarius and Aquarius II computers. Please let me know if you know of
anything more, or if (*gasp*) I've made an error somewhere!
http://www.comcen.com.au/~adavie/weird/aquarius.html
Cheers
A
On Mar 23, 5:18, Doug Spence wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Mar 1998, Pete Turnbull wrote:
> > I don't know much about Kaypros, but is it possible that one of the sets of
> > drives is 40-track and the other is 80-track?
>
> I don't know enough about Kaypros myself to answer this one.
>
> > Or that one set is single-sided and the other is double-sided?
>
> Both machines have single-sided drives. And the boot disk I'm using is
> definitely single-sided, because I duplicated it using TeleDisk with side
> 0 only, and the copy boots up and runs WordStar just fine.
>
> > When you start up the machine and it tries to boot, does a light come on,
> > on the disk drive (which would indicate that the drive is being accessed)?
>
> Yes. The light for drive A comes on, and the motors for both drives come
> on.
>
> I get the same response out of the machine whether I use the Kaypro boot
> disk or an MS-DOS disk. But it is paying enough attention that it
> immediately tells me "I cannot read your diskette" when I insert a
> cleaning disk. :) [which makes cleaning a bit difficult]
>
> Also, just for the hell of it (and it's probably a Bad Thing(tm)) I nudged
> the head forward when the machine was off, to see if it would move when
> power was applied. And it did move back to its usual position.
Well, if the ones that don't boot do move the heads, and the light comes on,
sounds like the machine can "see" them and make them respond, but just can't
read the data. It's still possible they're faulty, but if they're all
single-sided, my guess is that one pair is 40-track and the other is 80-track.
However, if this were the case, I'd expect that the boot would go partway (the
drive would probably read track 0 OK, but not any other).
> > Usually there's a set of jumpers, or sometimes a small DIL switch pack,
> I'm afraid it's not that easy. I did pull out the flashlight and take
> some good close looks inside the drives tonight, though, and I think I
> know how it determines the drive number now.
>
> At the back of the main circuit board, just in front of where the ribbon
> cable connects to it, there is a 14-pin chip with a label "1F" beside it.
> In drive A, there is an empty 16-pin socket beside it, with "2F" written
> on the circuit board beside it. Drive B has something IN this socket - a
> BLUE 16-pin chip.
That is almost certainly a terminator resistor pack, and doesn't affect the
drive selection. Whichever drive is whichever number, that pack belongs in the
last drive on the chain.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
Chances are your drive just needs the head cleaned and to be speed
calibrated. There are many documents on the web on how to speed calibrate
your drive, but if you need more assistance, I do these drives all the time.
Just let me know.
-----Original Message-----
From: CharlesII(a)nwonline.net <CharlesII(a)nwonline.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Sunday, March 22, 1998 3:14 PM
Subject: Drive crash
>My Atari 1050 disk drive crashed. When I try to boot a disk from it I
>get beep boot error beep beep boot error etc. I think I remember
>somthing about the beeps being a message when a boot error happens if so
>could somone tell me what it means and how to fix it since I don't see
>anything physicaly worng with the drive on the inside.
I finally opened up my Kaypros today to see if I could get the '2'
working. The II and the 2 seem to be almost identical inside, with two
notable differences: One of the ROMs has a different number on it, and
my Kaypro II has some wires soldered between pins on one of its chips.
The Kaypro II has a chip with a sticker marked "81-146A", with the "A"
stamped on in read ink. The Kaypro 2 has a chip with "81-232" on it, in
the same location.
What are the differences?
The chips at position U87 on both motherboards are marked DM74LS390N, but
the one in the Kaypro II has been messed with. It's a 16-pin chip, and
pin 1 has been bent upward and a wire soldered onto it, which leads to pin
6. Pin 9 is missing. Pins 12 and 15 are attached with a wire.
Is this normal for a Kaypro II, or has someone made a modification?
Anyway, I managed to make a copy of the WordStar disk that came in the
drive of the II today, using my Amiga 1000, A1060 SideCar, A1020 5.25"
floppy drive, and TeleDisk. So now I have a disk that boots reliably
instead of 1 out of every 5-10 times. That meant that I now know there's
something wrong with the Kaypro 2, because it won't boot at all with the
new disk. Before, it may have just been a borderline disk that was
causing the problem.
So (tell me if this was a bad/dangerous thing to do) I opened both
machines up and attached them to each others' disk drives. They were
plugged into a power bar, so I powered them up simultaneously with that.
The Kaypro 2 boot up with no problems, using the II's drives, and the II
was incapable of booting using the 2's drives, so I've got the problem
located to drive A of the Kaypro 2 now.
And BTW, both the II and the 2 have full-height drives.
Both keyboards have missing keys (including broken plungers). Will this
be easy to fix?
I'm thinking of fixing the 2, and using the II for parts, simply because I
like the colour of the 2's green phosphor monitor better (and some other
minor things). :) Is one model more rare than the other? IOW, does one
warrant saving more than the other? If not, I'll go with my feeling and
fix the 2 with parts from the II.
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
Note the short fuse this guy has!
> Subject: Old computer stuff
> From: rhutch(a)nbnet.nb.ca (Rod Hutchinson)
> Date: 1997/03/22
> Message-ID: <3333f242.44219309(a)news.nbnet.nb.ca>
> Newsgroups: nb.forsale
>
> I have some old hardware that if you find it interesting or require it
> for some reason then it is yours, just drop by and pick it up.
>
> Commadore PET computer with printer
>
> Headstart 286 Motherboard
>
> and some old 16 bit I/O cards
>
> if you live in the Oromocto area you can call at 357 8612
>
> we move on tues and anything left fills the landfill.
>
>
--
mor(a)crl.com
http://www.crl.com/~mor/
Found this in another newsgroup; thought it might be of interest to
some on this list. I have no connection whatsoever with this person.
FWIW...
>Macintosh II system.
>8 Megs of Ram
>80-to-120 meg HDD
>Mouse
>Keyboard (extended )
>Color Mac Monitor
>2400 External Zoom Modem
>Macintosh SE
>4 Megs of Ram
>20 Meg HDD
>Keyboard
>Mouse
>Built-in 9 inch BW monitor
>External Disk Drive
>Hayes Smartmodem ( 2400 ) external
>Okimate 20 color/bw thermal printer.
>Atari 800XL Computer System
>1020 printer with 2 carts
>Tape Drive
>Intro Tapes
>All manuals and an extra programming book
>Power supplies for every thing
>Intellivison System
>53 games
>Intellivision ECS ( computer add-on )
>ECS computer keyboard
>Manuals for the ECS
>Manuals for some of the games
>TI-99 4A computer system
>RF-converter, no power cord
>1 386 motherboard
>1 486 motherboard with overdrive, built in floppy and IDE controllers
>1 486 motherboard
>Various Games on CD and Floppy
>2 Video Seven video cards
>1 Video Flex Card
>Other Cards, some unknown
>1 IBM 5150 computer
>Quad board ( mem card )
>2400 bps modem
>IBM keyboard
>10 meg Plus Hard Card
>Various other cards for this system.
>Programs on 5.25 inch disks
>
>Will sell parts or whole systems or 450.00 + shipping for the whole package.
>Some of this stuff is and will be worth money in a few years.
>
>Please Reply via e-mail
>The Basement: Computer Org.
>swolfe1(a)mindspring.com
>or Call: 301-463-2812
>
-Bill Richman
bill_r(a)inetnebr.com
http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r
(Home of the COSMAC Elf Simulator!)
For one thing, this IS on topic, just as classic computer books.
I only saw it now because I was born a year before its release, and
left the USSR, where it was not available, in 1991.
>I think this movie was out in early 80's I think because I saw it on
>tape back in roughly '84. And I recalled that very well even I was
>at tender age. :)
>
>Jason D.
>email: jpero(a)cgo.wave.ca
>Pero, Jason D.
>
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Russ Blakeman wrote:
>
>> >I just saw Wargames; what an excellent movie! I encourage
>> Look for another movie sometime, "Dr. Strangelove". The
crazed
>
>Is it just me or have these movies been out and already been
tossed in
>the bargain rental area at the video stores? You guys need to
get out
>more ;-)
And here I was trying to be on topic, considering only movies
with computers more than 10 years old. Which reminds me, what
was the computer in "Dr. Strangelove", the scene where Peter
Sellers is the British officer in the computer room at the
Alaska airbase? Was it an IBM 1401? (now this is real computer
trivia)
Jack Peacock
OK. What exactly does a language card do? (Sorry, I'm new at this)..
Tim D. Hotze
-----Original Message-----
From: SUPRDAVE <SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Sunday, March 22, 1998 4:47 AM
Subject: Re: Wanted: Apple ][ Card Info
>In a message dated 98-03-21 11:33:13 EST, you write:
>
><< OK... could it allow for me to write in C? (Or any other languages in
> particular) What are the chances of finding another 64K RAM upgrade to
> boost it to the max 128KB?
> Thanks again, >>
>
>there were certain 128k ram cards for the ][+ and similar but i dont think
>programs could use the extra memory. early versions of appleworks could be
>patched to use it and dos 3.3 could use the mem as a virtual disk. the
pocket
>rocket's memory cannot be upgraded.
I just saw Wargames; what an excellent movie! I encourage everyone who
hasn't seen it already to see it.
I ask this question when seeing any technology-based movie;
how much of the technology is actually possible? Who was Professor
Falken in the movie based upon? Can a JOSHUA be built?
Lastly, was there any meaning to the launch code CPE1704?
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>I remember reading a Byte article that told how to build a
computer that
>used a variant of the Z80 by Hatichi (I think that's how you
spell it).
>The computer was about the size of a lunch box. Apparently I
have misplaced
>that particular issue an was wondering if any one had it and
was willing to
>tell me where I could find the printed circuit board and the
boot disks or at
>least send me the art work and the parts list for this
particular beast.
The part is a Hitachi 64180, an improved Z80. Zilog also makes
a similar part, the Z180. I recall the article, It was from
Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar series. I think his company sold the
kits, MicroMint (?).
The 64180 was a nice improvement, made it much easier to add
DRAM to a Z80. The drawbacks were the odd pin spacing on the
DIP (70 mil centers instead of 100) and a less than perfect fit
to the newer Zilog peripherals like the SCC or CIO. I believe
the Zilog version fixed up the signal problems with cascading
interrupts and also added one more address line (to a full 1MB).
Aside from the faster clock rates and built-in peripherals, the
nicest feature of the '180s was the memory management. The CPU
had an integrated memory management unit to extend the 64K
address of a regular Z80 out to either 512K or 1M, using three
bank-switched regions.
I still have a homemade CP/M system using the 64180, 256K DRAM,
16KB EPROM, two CIOs, one SCC, a National 58167 clock calendar,
and a WD MFM hard/floppy controller card. It runs CP/M V3 and
used the MMU to access all of the 256K RAM. I built it before
Ciarcia came out with his board, chances are I would have used
his for the project instead of doing a custom card.
I keep it running for sentimental value, it was the first card I
ever designed (and got working) with dynamic RAMs.
Jack Peacock
>>pocket rocket is applied engineering's equivalent to apple's language
card.
>OK... could it allow for me to write in C? (Or any other languages in
>particular) What are the chances of finding another 64K RAM upgrade to
>boost it to the max 128KB?
They were called "Language Cards" because you could switch between Applesoft
and Integer Basic. It never had anything to do with any other programming
language. If you want to program in C, try Hyper C from ground at
ftp://liquefy.isca.uiowa.edu/8/ground/apple2/apple8/Languages/Hyperc
-- Kirk
My Atari 1050 disk drive crashed. When I try to boot a disk from it I
get beep boot error beep beep boot error etc. I think I remember
somthing about the beeps being a message when a boot error happens if so
could somone tell me what it means and how to fix it since I don't see
anything physicaly worng with the drive on the inside.
Need a cartridge based interface for an Epson "Homewriter 10" for
Commodore - or any other machine they made a cartridge for the printer
for. I have the manual for the Commie cart but no cartridge so the
printer is kaput. It's essentially an LX-86 with a modification to make
it accept cartridges for an interface in place of the serial or parallel
inputs. The Centronics connector isn't even there although the board
could accept it but one of the main chips is removed to accept a plug in
connector for the "CATI" board.
If anyone has this or even a good logic board for an LX-86 (maybe you
have a printer with a dead printhead?) let me know and we'll work
something out. I hate to have the thing lying around if it's not
useable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Russ Blakeman
RB Custom Services / Rt. 1 Box 62E / Harned, KY USA 40144
Phone: (502) 756-1749 / Data/Fax:(502) 756-6991
Email: rhblake(a)bbtel.com or rhblake(a)bigfoot.com
Website: http://members.tripod.com/~RHBLAKE/
* Parts/Service/Upgrades and more for MOST Computers*
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In a message dated 98-03-22 08:10:20 EST, you write:
<< OK. What exactly does a language card do? (Sorry, I'm new at this).. >>
the language card also gives a 48k apple ][+ 64k of memory which is required
to run versions of prodos < v2.0
david
Ok, here's a group of cards made by Hewlett Packard that appear to be of
a mini computer style....
The first three have the white extractor tabs on two corners (much like
an HP 1000's cards do) and are 7.5" by 17" and have female header
connectors on the bottom 17" edge. Here's each card:
1) p/n 07980-66503 and has three bios looking socketed chips in the
upper left corner. These are numbered 88780-12122, -12222, -12322 and
there's a crystal for 20mhz on board. My guess is it's a processor
board?
2) p/n 07980-66534 and has a quick lock type ribbon cable socket on the
top/left, two bios looking chips numbered 88780-12423 and-12523. this
has a flat coin type battery next to the ribbon connector, a Motorola
MC68000 and 12 mhz crystal below that. Isn't the 68000 part of the Mac
computers? I have no guess on this one other than maybe an processor or
emulator card.
3) p/n 07980-66531 and has two ribbon quick locks. One is the same as
the last card but behind a steel shield plate. The other is similar to
the one used on older floppy controllers. This one also only has two
bottom connectors rather than three like the other two.
The fourth appears to be an SCSI card. It's irregular in shape and has
two 50 pin Centronics females as well as two 50 pin quick lock ribbon
connectors, one next to the Cent's and one on the opposite side. There's
a bios type chip with a label reading 88780-12618/U51 SCSI 6.62 and a
strange type brown two pin poweer connector. It appears to be mounted by
screws, not cage/slide mounted. It measures 11" x 6.25" and has a cutout
of roughly 3.5 x 4.5 inches near the two prong brown power type
connector.
Ok...you people know more about the big hardware than me. It's been 5
years since I've even seen an HP 1000 mini (from when I used an ESTS
station in the AF to test missiles) and it's all a blur. Anyone know
what these are, what they're from, and a possible new home for them? I
hate to throw away the heavy hardware since I know it's costly and in
some cases scarce. If someone wants to make me an offer for the four I'm
sure I'd take it. Remember, these look like they're good and are
untested. Let's face it though, anytime you can get something HP without
paying HP's price you're doing good. I'd especially take anything PC
parts wise in trade for these if someone has something good they can
spare.
Make me an offer and we'll go from there. They WILL go to the dump at
the end of March though. They weigh probably 5-6 lbs for all four, very
light.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Russ Blakeman
RB Custom Services / Rt. 1 Box 62E / Harned, KY USA 40144
Phone: (502) 756-1749 / Data/Fax:(502) 756-6991
Email: rhblake(a)bbtel.com or rhblake(a)bigfoot.com
Website: http://members.tripod.com/~RHBLAKE/
* Parts/Service/Upgrades and more for MOST Computers*
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I picked up a board at a Hamfest last summer, and I still don't know what
the heck it is. It may not even be computer related - might come from a
photocopier or something. :)
The board measures about 7.75" in length, and a little over 3" high. Its
slot connector has 72 pins, measuring a bit more than 3.5" in length.
It LOOKS like it could be RAM, but it's not like anything I've seen
elsewhere.
There are 16 long "plates" of what seems to be some kind of ceramic
material, each with four chips embedded in them, two to each side. The
"plates" measure over 2" in length, are notched at one end, and are marked
"125B", "886-2".
The chips that are embedded in the plates are marked "-607-2", with
varying numbers beneath (e.g. "01386 34", "04836 77"). They appear to
have 30 pins each, with 10 pins on each 'long' side and 5 pins at each
end. All pins come out the bottom of the chips rather than the sides as
on DIPs.
There are some other chips on the board, three of which (20-pin) are
labeled:
AM2966PC
WP90101L1 8546DMP
There are seven 16-pin chips labeled:
WE
63S 1
11085 74
And another 16-pin chip labeled:
WE
63S 1
12685 77
There is a yellow bar-code sticker on one end of the board which reads
"860C03900901".
There's a stamp in the middle reading "ATP221".
On the back side of the board is "844292540 AM 2 CM192B".
I've probably gone overboard with the discription, but I don't know what
info is relevant to identifying this thing. The guy I bought it from
clearly didn't know what he was selling (but I asked anyway). I bought it
with a bunch of old PC cards filled with old RAM chips I may need someday.
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
>I just saw Wargames; what an excellent movie! I encourage
everyone who
>hasn't seen it already to see it.
>
>I ask this question when seeing any technology-based movie;
>how much of the technology is actually possible? Who was
Professor
>Falken in the movie based upon? Can a JOSHUA be built?
>
Look for another movie sometime, "Dr. Strangelove". The crazed
nuclear scientist character in most all movies is based on Dr.
Edward Teller, father of the US H-bomb (Sakharov produced the
soviet H-bomb at the same time) and an influential advisor to
Eisenhower. Teller is also the guy who convinced Reagan to go
ahead with the "Star Wars" missle defense program (and if you
think that "Star Wars" was a stupid idea that was cancelled,
guess again, it is alive and well, just goes by other names
these days).
As for the rest of the movie, it was pure Hollywood. Secure
facilities don't have unsecured phone line, and especially no
incoming phone lines. BTW, the kid's computer was an IMSAI
S-100, and the graphics (if I recall correctly) were generated
by Godbout S-100 systems.
Jack Peacock
I've got a Mac 512K that came with two MacSnap devices installed in it.
The MacSnap SCSI adapter plugs into the Mac's ROM sockets, and provides a
25-pin SCSI connector out the back of the Mac. The Mac seems to pay no
attention to my Zip drive when it is attached to this connector, though,
so I guess that it needs some kind of driver? Does anyone have this
software?
Also, the machine came with 512K on a MacSnap memory board. It looks like
there's enough space for 1.5MB on the board. I had to remove the board to
get the Mac to boot, however. Even the "Sad Mac" image was garbled with
this thing in place. I think it is because two of the connectors are
cracked.
The MacSnap memory board actually snaps onto the top of existing chips on
the motherboard, because there is no "normal" means of expanding the Mac
512K.
Does anyone know if the 16-pin "snaps" are standard parts (i.e.
AVAILABLE)? These are parts that fit over 16-pin DIPs, with metal
contacts that push against the legs of the chips.
What would be the proper name for these parts?
There are four 20-pin "snaps" and two 16-pin "snaps" on the underside of
the memory board, but it is only the 16-pin parts that are cracked.
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
I think I've asked this before, but it might be a different crowd out
there now.
Does anyone know the specs of the power supply needed to power the Z-80
Video Pak from Data 20 Corporation? This is a cartridge for the Commodore
64 that is supposed to allow the 64 to run CP/M, and gives it an 80-column
text mode.
Does anyone have a manual for this cartridge? The only info I have on it
are from the text on the box, and from inspecting the cart itself.
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
FOund on usenet, reply directly to poster....
--
Hans B. Pufal : <mailto:hansp@digiweb.com>
Comprehensive Computer Catalogue : <http://www.digiweb.com/~hansp/ccc/>
_-_-__-___--_-____-_--_-_-____--_---_-_---_--__--_--_--____---_--_--__--_
> After hearing about some of the cool things you folks find at thrift
> stores, I decided to hit a couple today. I was pretty disappointed in the
> slim pickings, but I found a couple of interesting but useless items:
If you're referring in part to the HP-41 I mentioned last night, I went
back today and it was gone. Sob.
If any of you are in Oregon, though, it's probably worth your while to go
to the Goodwill on Coburg Rd in Eugene. Frequently. Today, they had a
Heathkit H19, a Kaypro 4, an AT&T 6300 PC, a couple of Laser 128s, a
couple of CoCo 2s, stacks of C= stuff, a Sperry luggable XT, something
that said Vector Graphics on it, and lots more. All priced at under $10,
and today was 40% off day. That list only contains stuff that was still
there when I left - I'm driving across the country tomorrow morning, so
I'm under some space constraints.
Normally, I'd offer to pick things up for people and ship them off, but
like I said, I'm driving back to Iowa tomorrow. Eugene/Portland people
on the list?
--
Ben Coakley http://www.math.grin.edu/~coakley coakley(a)ac.grin.edu
Station Manager, KDIC 88.5 FM CBEL: Xavier OH
Wow, this is global. -Mtn Goats
Need any info I can get on the TI Silent 700 Model 787 data terminal. I
have one(in storage right now), and am talking to someone by email who has
a 745 and 780. So if you have any info on any of those terminals, let me
know. Thanks
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