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101090 discussions

Video connectors (was: CGA Modes (Wuz: Win 3.0

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

I had a customer who plugged in his IDE cable's middle connector (HDD one end, motherboard on the other) into the sound board's IDE pins, because "it looked like it fit." Some people will do ANYTHING! manney ---------- > From: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > To: Manney > Subject: Re: Video connectors (was: CGA Modes (Wuz: Win 3.0 > Date: Tuesday, February 03, 1998 10:40 PM > > > <example, certainly is. I'm not saying we don't need 15 pins; I say we ne > <15 THICKER pins, and since this connector is typically the only connecto > <on the back of a VGA adapter, there's plenty of room. > > Par of the resoning was that it should have a connector that is not like > any other. if it were a standard db9 or db15 you'd have people plugging > into the serial port screaming it don't work. It's bad enough that you > have people that will force things no matter what. > > Allison >

28 years, 2 months

PS/1 How Much?

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 98-02-04 13:25:22 EST, you write: << Hi. There's this guy, in Bahrain, who's got a PS/1 386 2MB RAM, that's been "sitting in his closet." Now, he wants to know what it would be worth. I want to know what it'd be worth, too. (There's going to be arguements.... I'm sure.) Anyway, condition is currently unknown, but assumed in working condition. >> post the model number and i can give more info about it. david

28 years, 2 months

Altair 8800b + drive alignment

by adavie＠mad.scientist.com

I recently purchased an Altair 8800b from the original owner. He told me that last he used it (1984?), he was having trouble reading from the disk drive, and he was sure that it needed alignment. Apparently an alignment disk is required. I suspect an oscilloscope as well. I have two questions; 1) Can someone explain the process of aligning a disk drive, what is out of whack, and how tricky it is for a rank electronics amateur like myself 2) Where can I obtain an alignment disk, if required. Oh, I forgot to mention, the drive is an 8", the Altair model that has the same basic case and look of the Altair itself. This repair is one of the (I suspect) many that will be required to bring the Altair back to life. I've managed to get it (almost) firing up during the self-test stage, but one of the address lines doesn't behave (the light doesn't come on on A2 when I flick the switch that should light all of them, yet the light is operational at other stages). I'll get to that one later. Looks like a long, slow process. But worth it, no? Cheers Andrew

28 years, 2 months

Stupid bus tricks

by mtapley＠swri.edu

> >I thought the multiplexed NeXT "Zilla?" used the SCSI ports... > Zilla's copyright 1990, (so off-topic, please excuse me.). It uses regular ethernet networking. It's on my NeXT, but I've got no further information and no contacts about it. (If anyone else does, please contact me by email.) - Mark

28 years, 2 months

Slipsticks and calculators

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

(I can remember the simpler functions (multiply, divide & the > like) but how to use the thing for calculus & whatnot I'm sure has > "slipped" my mind... (lame) Pun intended ;^> Lame is right -- you're slipping. You can'y use 'am for calculus...you must be thinking of trig. > > And tho we did have some TRS-80 Model 4's (and an old IBM Series/1) in high > school, I did use it occasionally during geometry / algebra class when > necessary -- took it to college a few times to, but just to watch people > gawk... ;-) I went through Navy Nuclear Power School in '76, and they were required...even tho' calculators were cheap, then. Texas Instruments was naming some of their calculators "SR" (for Slide Rule) up until the mid-80's, at least. My first one was the SR-10...the LED "wedge". $110, IIRC Was that TI's first? manney

28 years, 2 months

Altair 8800b + drive alignment

by adavie＠mad.scientist.com

The manual/documentation I have gives a procedure you can follow (manually flipping the switches all the way) which is a self-test. Following the procedure you can check if your 8800b is working correctly. Using this procedure I tracked down several problems (loose wires to fron panel) but still have the address light problem. I'll track down the procedure and explain further, if there is any interest. I appreciate the comments about the alignment problem, and can see how basically I should be concentrating on the Altair first. So thats what I'll do. More soon. Andrew -----Original Message----- From: Allison J Parent <allisonp(a)world.std.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Thursday, February 05, 1998 4:24 AM Subject: Re: Altair 8800b + drive alignment ><From CLASSICCMP-owner(a)u.washington.edu Wed Feb 4 11:40:41 1998 > ><> This repair is one of the (I ><> suspect) many that will be required to bring the Altair back to life. ><> I've managed to get it (almost) firing up during the self-test stage >< ><"self-test stage"? Is this a turnkey model with a boot in ROM, ><or not? > >ALTAIR 8800b (with altair disk controller) used a boot program or a boot >rom card and DID NOT have anything resembling PC self test(or any >diagnostics). > >Allison > >

28 years, 2 months

Altair 8800b + drive alignment

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<From CLASSICCMP-owner(a)u.washington.edu Wed Feb 4 11:40:41 1998 <> This repair is one of the (I <> suspect) many that will be required to bring the Altair back to life. <> I've managed to get it (almost) firing up during the self-test stage < <"self-test stage"? Is this a turnkey model with a boot in ROM, <or not? ALTAIR 8800b (with altair disk controller) used a boot program or a boot rom card and DID NOT have anything resembling PC self test(or any diagnostics). Allison

28 years, 2 months

How much do 8" Floppies hold?

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I keep an 8" floppy disk in the front of my store to amaze people ("Jus <fold it twice and stick it in your drive...it holds a lot!") < <Just how much do (did?) they hold? (I'm sure there were different data <densities...just a range is all I want!) standard single sided single density was 128bytes*26 sectors*77 tracks or 256k. The high end is double density two sided and around 1mb. Allison

28 years, 2 months

PS/1 software

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

I used to support these machines but its been a while. i think the hard drive is proprietary, but i do remember someone somewhere mentioning adding a really big hard drive and getting it to work. send me another notice via private mail reminding me, and i will check on it when i get back to work. david In a message dated 98-02-04 00:20:43 EST, you write: << Yes, its a 2011-c34. I have no problem booting from the rom. I hear the hd spin up but then it slows down again and the light stays on. I get a 1701 error and an indication to press f1. After pressing f1 the computer boots from either the floppy or the rom. I wish I could have made backups first but it was doa when I got it. Do you know if the parts (hd floppy) are interchangeable with ps/2 hardware? Thanks for the software source tip. >>

28 years, 2 months

TRW Acquisitions, VCF/building s100 systems

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<>They may work muost just pull the 360k drives from an XT. < < Aren't SA 400's single density? XT drives are Double Density. Yes, <they'll probably work but the media wouldn't be interchangable. Sa400 would do FM (single density) and MFM (double density). the 360k drive also do single density. It's the 1.2m 5.25" drives that are weird. < Do you have the old NS* software that will run on the Alrair? By default yes.. and no. The stuff will run on an altair but the IO which is personalized for my NS* with it's two serial ports. there is no way I can personalize it for the altair as I have no clue of the IO (serial boards used and their addreses). The NS* motherboard (backplane) has two serial ports and a parallel port plus a few other useful things so their configurations were easier to be certain of. You need to track down a set of NS* manuals or copies. FYI: NSdos requires a minimum 16k of ram starting at 2000h it does not use ram below 2000h (or care). Also it assumes the ports start at 00 and the port devices are 8251s with hard jumpered baud rates. If you are going to configure an altair you need manuals, more manuals and it doesn't hurt to be able do digital design to understand what they did. You see the docs with early altairs were not amoung the best. Most of what you may need to know often had to be extracted from the printsets by understanding the logic. then you have the non-altair boards plugged in that manuals are very handy for too. If the boards require extra or specific software (some terminal interface or video display boards) the hadware and software manuals may be needed. Allison

28 years, 2 months

Altair 8800b + drive alignment

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<1) Can someone explain the process of aligning a disk drive, what is out <whack, and how tricky it is for a rank electronics amateur like myself It's tricky as you will need a good scope and the alignment disk and know how to use both. also getting the alignment disk after so many years will be a challenge. <Oh, I forgot to mention, the drive is an 8", the Altair model that has th <same basic case and look of the Altair itself. This repair is one of the <suspect) many that will be required to bring the Altair back to life. Before you align anything check to see if the head is clean and the head load pad(felt) is there and intact. <I've managed to get it (almost) firing up during the self-test stage, bu <one of the address lines doesn't behave (the light doesn't come on on A2 <when I flick the switch that should light all of them, yet the light is <operational at other stages). I'll get to that one later. I'd check the switch (may be dirty contacts from age). then follow the logic as it may be a poor contection or a bad chip. <Looks like a long, slow process. But worth it, no? Shouldn't be that bad. the altair 8800B was a later machine and far better/different than the 8800 or 8800A. Of the Altairs it was the industrial strength version. What will help your task is having documentation (a must for any old machine!). It wouldn't hurt if you have a techie near you that is familiar with old s100 hardware as a PC kid genius would not have a clue. Allison

28 years, 2 months

CP/M conversion

by alanr＠morgan.ucs.mun.ca

At 03:34 PM 03/02/98 -0800, you wrote: >"CP/M" machine is pretty vague. 8" floppy? 5.25" floppy? 3.5" floppy? > Sorry, it's for a Kaypro 4, which is 5.25" (i think) > >*Which* long filenames? CP/M is 8.3, too! > Sorry again, I am not familiar with CP/M. I was told however that when he (the one with the Kaypro 4) tried to convert files before, the CP/M <--> DOS <--> Mac conversion truncated his files, I must have misinterpreted this to mean filenames :( Thanks however for the link to the CP/M <--> DOS conversion utility, it is much appreciated :)

28 years, 2 months

PS/1 software

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

ah yes, the first ps1 series to come out. i presume its a 2011-c34 or m01. you might want to try this trick: with the machine off, press and hold down both mouse buttons, then power on. when it posts, let the buttons go. that will force an autoconfig, and make it boot from rom again. that trick works on all ps1 models. you shoulda made your disk backups when it was running, but too late now. you can still order the core software from ibm. i think it's ~$45. ring the helpcentre at 800.772.2227 david In a message dated 98-02-03 16:55:21 EST, you write: << I recently came into possession of a PS/1 model 2011. (I believe that this was one of the initial PS/1 models). It has a '286 processor and 30 meg harddrive. Unfortunately, the harddrive seems to be DOA (1701 error on boot up). The system will boot up to a 4 quadrant screen from the rom. I have downloaded the programs from IBM to switch the boot sequence to the floppy, but I cannot access any of the software that came with the system (MS Works et al.). The docs seem to imply that I can create a diskette version to run the software, which would be great if I had the original diskettes. So I'm wondering if there is anyone out there that I could get a copy of the diskettes that came with this system? Thanks, >>

28 years, 2 months

Video connectors (was: CGA Modes (Wuz: Win 3.0))

by photze＠batelco.com.bh

>If that works, you're lucky; if not, it's time for the needlenose pliers, >at which point the game becomes "straighten one pin without bending others." Actually, that's why I choose a screw driver. It's small enough that I don't worry about getting two pins, just the one that I want fixed. It's worked 10 or so times, no problems, 10 min. MAX for each, usually no more than 2 or 3. >Now that you've said that -- how about a Centronics-type connector, with >the female end on the end of the monitor cable, and the male end recessed >into the card bracket, where it would just be another feature connector of >sorts? This exact combination, when used for parallel printers or external >SCSI, is almost indestructible. That would work. Also, current monitors would be able to use it. You could even have a little plug-in thing for current monitors/video cards, with no re-design needed. I don't think that I've got the power to pull this off, but I do know a guy at Diamond MM, reviewing products for my web site. Ciao, Tim D. Hotze

28 years, 2 months

PS/1 software

by rector＠usa.net

I recently came into possession of a PS/1 model 2011. (I believe that this was one of the initial PS/1 models). It has a '286 processor and 30 meg harddrive. Unfortunately, the harddrive seems to be DOA (1701 error on boot up). The system will boot up to a 4 quadrant screen from the rom. I have downloaded the programs from IBM to switch the boot sequence to the floppy, but I cannot access any of the software that came with the system (MS Works et al.). The docs seem to imply that I can create a diskette version to run the software, which would be great if I had the original diskettes. So I'm wondering if there is anyone out there that I could get a copy of the diskettes that came with this system? Thanks, -- Dan Rector email: rector(a)usa.net

28 years, 2 months

Parallel ports

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 02:39 AM 1/30/98 -0500, you wrote: >> Have you ever seen a Zenith "MiniSport"? Uses 2" floppies? I found [...] >do its upload and you've got at least one disk, you can probably >(don't count on it, but probably) attach a parallel Zip drive). Question: when did parallel ports become bi-directional (i.e., useable for zip drives and such)? Or, to put it another way, how likely would I be able to (ignoring software issues for the moment) hook up my new SyJet drive to say, my m100? What about my DG-1? (P.S., off-topic tip: The Parallel port SyJet is really a SCSI-2 SyJet with a fancy cable; if you've already got SCSI, and can maybe use the Parallel port feature...) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

28 years, 2 months

TRS-80 Model 1 and 4 questions

by dcoward＠pressstart.com

David Williams - Computer Packrat said: >Also, I picked up a TRS-80 Model 4, again with out manuals or >software. I have some software for the model 1 but can someone send >me LDOS or other OS for the Model 4? You can get LDOS with documentation and other Misosys software on Tim Mann's TRS-80 page at http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/personal/mann/trs80.html#down or Stefan's Old Computer Stuff page at http://www.xs4all.nl/~rimmer/trs/trs.html ========================================= Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com Senior Software Engineer Press Start Inc. Sunnyvale,CA Curator Museum of Personal Computing Machinery http://www.best.com/~dcoward/museum =========================================

28 years, 2 months

Video connectors (was: CGA Modes (Wuz: Win 3.0))

by photze＠batelco.com.bh

>Agreed, "with care." But too much care for the average user. Even I, who >like to think I know what I'm doing, repeat the mantra "Never jam in a VGA >connector no matter what" whenever I have the D-shell in my hand, just to >slow myself down properly. Actually, I've jammed the $^\&* things a few times myself. The solution (that I've come up with) is get a screw driver, (flathead) and then push it up and straighten it out. I've done the same thing with IDE connectors. I used the same solution, but instead of trial and error for getting them strait, I would get it straiter, then put an IDE cable into ONLY the damaged area, straiten it out a bit, see if it works, then try again. >But it's not a simple ENOUGH solution because, when I'm in the field and >detaching a monitor from its computer, 50% of the connectors I look at have >one pin bent in an L and jammed against the inner wall of the shell. The >design isn't adequate to real-world use, is my point -- whereas a DB9, for >example, certainly is. I'm not saying we don't need 15 pins; I say we need >15 THICKER pins, and since this connector is typically the only connector >on the back of a VGA adapter, there's plenty of room. Why not move away from this type of pins all together? Sure, it would cause major monitor incompatibility, but VGA type connectors are aging rapidly, and with new LCD monitors, the SVGA interface is reaching it's limits. Maybe something like a ethernet-type connector, or, as you said THICKER pins. Maybe switch the male-female part of this, with female-connector monitors. And, re-align the pins so that you can use a correctly configured (with the M-F type connectors, etc.) EGA, or CGA monitor. >Coming Spring '98: The Windows 98 Bible by Kip Crosby and Fred Davis! ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep me updated. Of course, MS wouldn't talk to me about reviewing it's products for my web site. :-(

28 years, 2 months

CP/M conversion

by alanr＠morgan.ucs.mun.ca

Does anyone know of a conversion utiliy which will convert files from a CP/M machine to Mac format? There is someone here willing to part with his Kaypro 4 but needs to convert his old files first. I know there is a conversion utility for CP/M to DOS, which then can be converted to Mac, but then you would lose all the long filenames. A CP/M to Mac would be preferable, any ideas?

28 years, 2 months

Pinouts on a DEC VT320 terminal

by spc＠armigeron.com

So I have this DEC VT320 terminal in front of me and it does work (very nicely, if I do say so). But what has me disturbed is the serial output port on this thing - it's the stranges port I've seen. Like a phone jack only not quite. And before I spend something like $50 on a cable, can anyone tell me what the pin outs are? -spc (Oh, and is it RS-232 even?)

28 years, 2 months

Info wanted (lots)

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

I've started scanning photos of my collection, and want to build the web pages for each machine. Unfortunately, I don't know everything about all of them; so I'm asking for help. Here are the machines I've scanned so far: Altima 2 Apple Macintosh Portable Atari Portfolio Data General One Epson HX-20 Laptop Grid GridCase3 Hewlett-Packard Vectra LS/12 IBM PC Radio NEC PC8201A NEC PC8401A "Starlet" Radio Shack Model 100. I'm looking for any info, specs, anecdotes, whatever you might know of regarding these machines. Specifically, the specs I want to list (and I'm open for suggestions on other info) include: {mfr} Manufacturer {location} Mfr's Location {model} Model Number {processor} CPU used {opsys} Operating System(s) {bits-int} bits, internal to CPU (ex: 8088 = 16b internal) {bits-data} bits, external to cpu (ex: 8088 = 8b databus) {ram-min} Minimum RAM {ram-max} Maximum RAM (per Mfr) {rom} Amount of ROM {input} Type of input devices {display} Display size/type {stor-cas} Cassette Storage {stor-fdd} Floppy Drives {stor-hdd} Hard Drive {expansion} Expansion Capabilities {intro} Year introduced {discon} Year discontinued {cost} Intro price {size} Physical Size {weight} Weight {power-volt} Power Supply Voltage {power-conn} PS Type of connector {power-polar} PS connector polarity {notes} Other info If you know of any online resources, please forward the URL's as well. Thanks! --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

28 years, 2 months

Looking for Melbourne collector

by adam＠merlin.net.au

Hi! I was just offered (possibly at a small cost - we didn't discuss any prices) a very large collection of Atari computers (800, 800xl, etc), plus manuals, books, software, peripherals and everything else you can probably imagine. However, I already have four Ataris of different sorts, so I thought someone else might appreciate it more (although, if you do, I may be interested in a couple of items *grin*). Anyway, as the collection is in Melboune I thought it might be of the most interest to a Melbourne collector, and I don't know any. Is anyone interested? Let me know and I can pass the phone number on to you. Adam.

28 years, 2 months

CGA Modes (Wuz: Win 3.0)

by photze＠batelco.com.bh

But, of course, MY PGA did. I've got a question I've been dying to ask: Why the heck do (S)VGA montiors have 3 sets of pins, and "older" monitors only have 2? I mean, the increased performance, for sure, but so many of the pins are "not used", or used for an odd purpose. Why not say put in 2 differnet plugs of 2 rows each, so that I could use my *surely* functional SVGA when testing out old computers? Thanks, Tim D. Hotze -----Original Message----- From: Kip Crosby <engine(a)chac.org> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, February 03, 1998 7:25 PM Subject: Re: CGA Modes (Wuz: Win 3.0) >At 18:44 2/3/98 +0300, you wrote: >>Isn't PGA Pin-Grid-Array? (It's probably wrong, but hay....) > >Na-na-na. Professional Graphics Adapter, IBM's "other" attempt (besides >8514/a and XGA) at expensive design-grade video. It never went anywhere, >much. > >__________________________________________ >Kip Crosby engine(a)chac.org > http://www.chac.org/index.html >Computer History Association of California > >

28 years, 2 months

PGA (RE: CGA Modes (Wuz: Win 3.0))

by engine＠chac.org

At 09:08 2/3/98 -0800, Kai Kaltenbach wrote: >PGA is a three-card sandwich, not two... Mmm, no wonder it was so pricey. How many slots did it take? __________________________________________ Kip Crosby engine(a)chac.org http://www.chac.org/index.html Computer History Association of California

28 years, 2 months

EEPROM programmers again

by kevan＠heydon.org

Hi, Recently I picked up an EEPROM programmer (An Elan Universe 1000 to be precise) and I want to use it read and save the contents of the EEPROMs in my old computers. There is a small LCD display on the programmer >from which I can select various output formats, and I was wondering which ones are the best / most popular? The format are: Tek Hex ASCII Hex Space Binary Motorola S Rec Intel Std & 8086 Elan Fuse Map Jedec Mos Tech Texas Tags Also any specifications for the above formats would be much appreciated. Again through the LCD configuration options it seems that the programmer can be remotely controlled using the following formats: Chessels Philips PMDS Intel MDS Elan Easycom I have searched the Web but found nothing on these protocols. Can any body help me? Many thanks. -- Kevan Old Computer Collector: http://www.heydon.org/kevan/collection/

28 years, 2 months

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