test-drb

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101090 discussions

by william＠ans.net

Many of you may remember a small haul of Digital PDP-8/e minicomputers that Jim Willing had sniffed out. Well, things have changed a bit... It turns out there are _five_ systems in six racks (one processor may have missing parts), with all sorts of extra stuff (EAE, RX02s, expansion boxes, boatloads of core, etc.). Jim is getting one system, and I am getting another, still another is probably spoken for, but rest are up for grabs. The price? $200 gets you as much of a system as you want - CPU only, or an entire rack. In addition, Jim and I will need some help moving the stuff (located in Charleston, West Virginia), mostly in the money department. I may need to drive down to get the stuff in a rental truck (we take it all, or we take none, thus we will need a truck) next week, or, as a back up plan, Jim will look into shipping the stuff with a freight company. To be fair, I must warn anyone that their share of initial shipping (getting them to one of my storage locations) may be over $50. I can store the stuff, either in Easton, PA (#2 storage locker), Providence, RI (RCS/RI), or perhaps the new house just above New York City. I will be packing and shipping Jim's stuff (he does not need a rack, he says), and could probably do the same for any other parties. PDP-8/e CPUs weigh about 90 pounds. I have lots of experience packing 90 pound boxes for cross country trips (90 pound HFDF receivers, not one even scratched). I would need shipping money and perhaps something for my efforts, but not much. In other words, I can make deracked PDP-8/es available to just about anyone in the U.S.. Anyway, do we have any interested parties? Remember, PDP-8s are not that common anymore, especially ones with EAE (extended arithmetic element)! Also, would anyone want to put in some time actually helping me unload (they will help load)? A full system might weigh 500 pounds, and I really do not look forward to unloading them by myself! Please let me know as soon as possible, as the clock is ticking. William Donzelli william(a)ans.net

28 years, 2 months

toner cleaning

by engine＠chac.org

>What's the best way to clean out toner fluid from laser printers(or in my >case a photcopier)? There's toner all over the inside, and it needs a lot >of cleaning, but I don't want to destroy it trying to clean everything. You must be very careful! The easiest way to do this is with a soft brush and a vacuum cleaner, but because some varieties of toner are explosive, you have to use a vacuum cleaner with a sparkless motor. Special ones are made and sold for this purpose but they ain't cheap -- I don't know if you could rent one. Years ago at my last office job, a reload toner cart came apart and left toner all over the inside of a Laserjet IID. We wanted to call HP service but the skinflint boss insisted we clean it up ourselves. The receptionist went at it with a garden-variety hand vac which shot a six-inch flame out the exhaust, ruined the vac motor and scorched the wall. I didn't see the flame but I sure saw the burn on the wall. /kc

28 years, 2 months

RL02s in dumpster

by jfoust＠threedee.com

The other day I saw two RL02s in a dumpster outside the UW-Madison surplus center. I didn't have anything to connect them to, and they were a bit dinged. What sort of platter is inside them? Should I go disassemble them to get the big platters to hang on the wall? - John

28 years, 2 months

PDP-11 available in New Zealand

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Subject: DEC PDP 11 Computer From: Tim Armstrong <Tim.Armstrong(a)vuw.ac.nz> Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 16:08:37 +1300 Message-ID: <34C809B5.11DF40B(a)vuw.ac.nz> Organization: Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand Newsgroups: nz.comp We are closing down a system which used a DEC PDP11. As parts for these rather old machines are getting a bit hard to get would anyone out there be interested in this piece of hardware. -- Tim Armstrong, Maintenance Manager Victoria University of Wellington PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand phone (04) 495 5073, Fax (04) 495 5242 <http://www.vuw.ac.nz>

28 years, 2 months

HP 2250

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> wrote: > Got this from a friend of mine: > > I've never heard of an HP2250 either, but according to the 1983 HP > catalog, the HP2250A is a "Measurement and Control Processor." It's > designed to work with the HP1000 and HP9800 computers via an HP-IB [snip] 1983 is probably about right -- it's not in the 1980 or 1981 Measurement/Computation catalogs. Instead there is something called a 2240A that seems to be about the same idea. Hmm. I guess I don't quite understand how this is substantially different from a 6940B or 6942A Multiprogrammer, but then I haven't worked with any of them. Well, the 694xs get a few more pages in the catalogs, look like they might have a wider range of I/O cards, and I gather the 6940B may be what you needed to resort to for faster-than-HP-IB communications with the controlling host processor (it can use a 16-bit parallel interface). Joe, did you tell me (in private mail) that this thing was mounted in a rack? There's a picture in the 1981 catalog of something called a System 9030 that looks like a desk-height rack with woodgrain top and wheels, and the accompanying paragraph of text: "The HP 2240 can be installed in a roll-around cabinet with plug connectors for portable use. Adding a controller (HP 9825, 9835, or 9845) and available exercising software, the preconfigured combination is called the HP System 9030. Contact your local HP office for information about specific ordering constraints." The picture has what I'd guess to be a 9835A sitting on the woodgrain top, presumably looking like the expected controller. If the 2250A is anything like the 2240A, it's a smallish 19" rack-mountable box, maybe 12" tall. Meaning that about half the System 9030 rack is taken up with something else, maybe the "plug connectors" mentioned above? -Frank McConnell

28 years, 2 months

Kaypro Question

by cgregory＠lrbcg.com

Could someone (briefly) describe the differences between a Kaypro II and a Kayro 2 (2X ?) Cliff Gregory cgregory(a)lrbcg.com

28 years, 2 months

I don't think these are RX02s...

by rector＠christcom.net

> WPS/78 V3.4 (No communications) > WPS/78 V3.1F > WPS-v3 WPS SYSTEM< > > Anyone know what these are? > ------- > - don ------------- Back in college, they used to teach word processing on our VAX 11/750. The word processor they used was called WPS - could this be a variant of that?

28 years, 2 months

MFM drives

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

as I was going through my parts today, i decided to test some 5 old mfm controller cards I was given by someone at work. it turns out that 5 mfm hard drives i have have gone "bad" again (they worked previously), and all 5 controller cards have failed. it seems the only drive combination i have that works is a kalok drive, and a full size adaptec controller card that came in the 286 im testing all these in. over the past year, i betcha i've bought and thrown away almost 40 bad controller cards! the drives i know worked before, so i can just call debug and low level them again. ive already tried cabling combinations, jumper and bios settings, swapping known good parts out, and so forth. has anyone else had a fantastic failure rate with mfm controller cards? seems like i have better luck with reviving hard drives. incidentally, would anyone know what the proper jumper settings would be for an 8bit mfm controller card? one is a WD1002-27X and the other is a WD1002A-WX1. they are similar in appearance, but minor changes in chip layout and jumper settings. both these cards won't init a good hard drive. david

28 years, 2 months

Heads Up! TWO VAXen need rescue!

by kyrrin2＠wizards.net

Found on Usenet. Please direct responses to the original author. -=-=- <snip> -=-=- Newsgroups: comp.os.vms Path: Supernews70!Supernews60!supernews.com!news.he.net!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news-backup-west.sprintlink.net!news-in-west.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!128.122.253.92!newsfeed.nyu.edu!rockyd!notes From: Stuart Cohnen <cohnen(a)rockvax.rockefeller.edu> Subject: VAX 4000-200 for Sale, Cheap! X-Nntp-Posting-Host: shalom.rockefeller.edu Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Message-ID: <34C779A4.BB5D2884(a)rockvax.rockefeller.edu> Sender: notes(a)rockyd.rockefeller.edu (News Administrator) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Organization: Rockefeller University Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 16:53:56 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (WinNT; U) Lines: 22 Xref: Supernews70 comp.os.vms:183086 We have retired a VAX 4000-200 with 64 Megs and the following DSSI disks RF74 (3.5G), RF31 (350M), RF73 (2G) and 2- RF72 (2G). In addition, we have a SCSI controller and a Exabyte 8000 with 10 tape stacker. Yes and more, a 1600bpi 2 Kennedy Tape Drive (one is a spare, not on-line). Included is DECNET and VMS licenses. This machine has been under DEC maintanence. Make me an offer -- you pay shipping or pick it up here in New York City. Also, anyone want to take away an 11/750? I even have the Field Service schematics! Contact me: Stuart Cohnen The Rockefeller University cohnen(a)mail.rockefeller.edu -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, SysOp, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fido 1:343/272) kyrrin2 {at} wiz<ards> d[o]t n=e=t "...No matter how hard we may wish otherwise, our science can only describe an object, event, or living creature, in our own human terms. It cannot possibly define any of them!..."

28 years, 2 months

HP 2250

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

Got this from a friend of mine: I've never heard of an HP2250 either, but according to the 1983 HP catalog, the HP2250A is a "Measurement and Control Processor." It's designed to work with the HP1000 and HP9800 computers via an HP-IB interface, and accommodates a series of plug-in cards for measurement functions (like multiplexers, A/D converters, counters, relay cards, etc.). It has "a built-in LSI microprocessor and MCL/50 firmware, a software command set comprised of over 100 applications oriented mnemonic commands that can be used in many combinations to optimize measurement and control operations." Apparently, you program it using the host computer, then set it loose on its own to gather data and control devices. Interesting... Joe

28 years, 2 months

DEC tapes & 24,000 lbs of old computers

by engine＠chac.org

>>(OK, maybe not the HP, because I do not know what a 2250 is - it might >>be really special). > > It just might be. Even Frank doesn't know what it is! It's a piece of test gear that hooks to an HP 1000. Early eighties. /kc

28 years, 2 months

DEC tapes & 24,000 lbs of old computers

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

At 05:25 PM 1/22/98 -0500, you wrote: >> No PCs in this lot, it's all mainframe >> computer stuff. > >Well, minis...anyway, the only things really special here are the S/32 (if >it is an IBM) I didn't see a name only the model number that I gave you "system 32 /2750". I don't think there could have been too many companies that used that model number. and the Honeywell. The other things really are very common >(OK, maybe not the HP, because I do not know what a 2250 is - it might >be really special). It just might be. Even Frank doesn't know what it is! > >William Donzelli >william(a)ans.net > Joe >

28 years, 2 months

DEC tapes

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

Hi, I found some more DEC stuff. A bunch of tapes this time. Can anyone tell me what these are for and if they're usefull as they are or should I just use them as scratch tapes for another system. These are original DEC tapes with DEC software. HSC SOFTWARE V3.9 SYS TU58 HSC SOFTWARE V3.9A UTL TU58 HSC SOFTWARE V4.0 UTL TU58 HSC SOFTWARE V4.0 SYS TU58 HSC SOFTWARE V4.1 UTL TU58 HSC SOFTWARE V4.1 SYS TU58 MATNET TIU May 9,1983 MATNET SIMP VER 6.2:6 APRIL 8, 1983 BLANK TU58 (Is this just a blank tape?) Here's a strange one. It appears to be a diagnostics tape but I don't know what system it's for. Can anyone identify it? one tape marked: “C/30 imp+diag 64K” PN 4604263G01 10 64IMP 100 CCT4 300 MEMTEST 400 NIMPTS 500 NIMP4H 600 MTI-UTEST 610 MTI-MTEST 620 MTI-HTEST Thanks, Joe

28 years, 2 months

toner cleaning

by rexstout＠ptld.uswest.net

What's the best way to clean out toner fluid from laser printers(or in my case a photcopier)? There's toner all over the inside, and it needs a lot of cleaning, but I don't want to destroy it trying to clean everything. TIA -JR http://members.tripod.com/~jrollins/index.html http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/1681/

28 years, 2 months

DEC tapes & 24,000 lbs of old computers

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

David, The condition covers the whole range. Some of it is on pallets and covered with plastic and card board and look fine. Other items look like they stuck a forklift fork into them. I recall the Honeywell is on top of some HP 7925 disk drives and looks fine, I had to climb to get to it. I only saw one Honeywell but there's 2-3-4 of most of the others. Of course everything is piled up so there's no telling what's underneath. Some of the cabinets or the other stuff are dented but they look like there was no damage done. It's sitting outside now but it doesn't look like it's been there long. (No rust). I expect that half of it is still functional and the other half could be used for parts. This stuff is INCREDIBLE! It's a stack about 7 to 8 foot wide and at least forty feet long! Some of it is piled 7 foot high! I didn't have anything to write with when I looked at it, so these are only the items that I remember, there's LOTS more. I'd only interested in the smaller HP stuff. There are a bunch of HP 7888 system expanders, 98985 and 9885 disks drive and various interfaces. BTW what is the HP 2250? I don't think I've ever heard of it. Joe At 02:50 PM 1/22/98 +0000, you wrote: >Joe, > >Hmm, this might be worth renting a truck and driving down there. Any >more info on the condition of any of this? I'd be interested in VAX, >DEC or HP equipment but don't have time/money/space for it if the >equipment has been "chopped up" beyond repair. It would be neat to >have a Honeywell Level 6 (if it is what I remember) but REALLY don't >have the space for one. Let me know if you have any more details on >any of this stuff as it would sway me one way or the other. > >Thanks. > >David > > On 22 Jan 98 at 15:28, Joe wrote: >> BTW I found a HUGE pile of computer stuff today at a NASA >> auction. >> >>>>> 24,000 pounds <<<<<< of old computers including HP 2250, >> somebodies system 32/2750, Vax 631, DEC RA 60(s), PDP 11/84, VAX >> 6310, Honeywell Level 6 and lots more! No PCs in this lot, it's all >> mainframe computer stuff. Most of it is in dumpsters and some of it >> looks fine, other parts looks like they were opened with an axe! >> If anyone knows what any of this stuff is or if it's worth anything >> let me know. If you're interested in it send me an E-mail. I have >> a couple of days to send in a bid. *****IF**** enough people are >> interested in it and are willing to actually spent some money for it >> (and not expect me to buy it and give it to them) then I will put in >> a bid for it. The stuff is located near Kennedy space center in >> Florida and you'll have to make arrangements to get the stuff before >> Feb. 12. I **DO NOT** have the man power, time, vehicles or storage >> to move or keep it. This stuff is listed as scrap so it will be >> CHEAP!! probably around 12 cents per pound. >> >> Joe >> >> >----- >David Williams - Computer Packrat >dlw(a)neosoft.com >http://www.neosoft.com/~dlw >

28 years, 2 months

Macs Pluses

by TOwad＠aol.com

Hi Joe, Haven't heard from you. Did you ever find any Macs other than Pluses? Were you able to get system software? LMK. Sincerely, Tom

28 years, 2 months

I don't think these are RX02s...

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

These are some 8" disks which I was told are RX02 disks, but they aren't. I can't read them. And some of the labels sound funny... Z80 ASSEMBLER MANUAL Z80 INTERPRETER MANUAL PART 1 OF CDC PASCAL MANUAL PART 2 OF CDC PASCAL MANUAL WPS/78 V3.4 (No communications) WPS/78 V3.1F One labled "SA100 DISKETTE" WPS-v3 WPS SYSTEM< Anyone know what these are? -------

28 years, 2 months

Does anyone else here have a Fuzzball running?

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

I can't make Fuzzball start. It dies. You just load it like a normal RT-11 executable, right? I made a bos1.sav for my configuration, and when I start it, it halts at 2434. Is that a special address or something? I'm trying to load it on the 23+ at school. I have an 11/23+, MSCP, RX02s, 2Megabytes of RAM, and a DLV-11J. -------

28 years, 2 months

LNW Research computer

by weese＠mind.net

Gary: You have posted to a discussion group. Your friend meant to give you my personal e-mail address (weese(a)mind.net), I think. (I believe you are writing to me, as I haven't seen LNW stuff mentioned in the last month by anybody else on this group.) I'll write this both to the group, to clarify, & to you personally. ---mikey ---------- > From: Gary <glm(a)afweb.com> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: LNW Research computer > Date: Wednesday, January 21, 1998 5:45 PM > > A friend gave me your e-mail address. If you are the person that had the > LNW computer parts and manuals for sale, please send e-mail to > glm(a)afweb.com. I have one and the expansion board is defective. I need > schematics to fix it. Thanks a bunch if you can help. > > Gary >

28 years, 2 months

Mac IIci, was [Re: The IBM PS/2 model 70 again! -E61]

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 08:20 PM 1/7/98 +0000, you wrote: >I agree. I just finished looking at the info as provided by apple's >site. So I will leave this IIcx alone. I thought of putting linux >on that when linux version get to full version release for that 68k >type. A IIcx for C$25 isn't that bad, assuming it has a decent size hard drive (80mb+) and some ram (4mb+). If it comes with a keyboard and mouse as well, and/or video card, you're doing pretty good. I would definitely pick one up at that price for Rachel's classroom. (The IIci is a little nicer, but a IIcx is very acceptable.) Note, if anyone (especially in the SF bay area) comes across mac stuff cheap that they're not interested in (especially monitors!) I'm always looking to get more computers into her classroom. (In case I haven't mentioned her before, my girlfriend (Rachel) is a 1st grade teacher in Daly City. We've put 10 or 11 macs in her school (8 in her class) so far, mostly based on my scrounging (or buying) parts and refurbing them.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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

How does microcode work??

by rcini＠email.msn.com

I know that this is a little off-topic, but here it goes. I'm reading the book "The Soul of a New Machine", a book about the development of DG's Eclipse minicomputers (great book, BTW). In there, they talk about a "microcoder," one who is responsible for developing the microcode for the processor. Inutitively I know what microcode is. I think of it as hard-coded ROM for the instruction fetch unit of the microprocessor. Since I haven't been formally schooled in computer science or microprocessor design, I'd like to understand (in 500 words or less <g>) how microcode works, i.e., how is it implemented and how does the microprocessor access it. I know that this is probably a topic that is worthy of volumes of paper, but the Reader's Digest version will do! Thanks. Rich Cini/WUGNET Charter ClubWin! Member MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking

28 years, 2 months

Kaypro's Available

by SjsPeak＠aol.com

I'm looking for a Kaypro II. Can you help?

28 years, 2 months

LNW Research computer

by glm＠afweb.com

A friend gave me your e-mail address. If you are the person that had the LNW computer parts and manuals for sale, please send e-mail to glm(a)afweb.com. I have one and the expansion board is defective. I need schematics to fix it. Thanks a bunch if you can help. Gary

28 years, 2 months

I now have a PDP-11/40 printset.

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

This should make for some interesting reading... I just says "PDP-11/40 system engineering drawings". The dates on the schematics inside say 09/22/72. Oh! This also includes the terminal? I guess this IS the "system" schematic... I was told that when you bought a PDP-10 that DEC included the operator's chair... and that the schematics for it came in the printset. I wonder what the part number would be for a PDP-10 console chair... Is this bull? Did they REALLY include the chair? -------

28 years, 3 months

PDP-8/Es available-another story.

by thedm＠sunflower.com

I'm 30 now, started playing with a Bell+howell apple][ in junior high school. Bought my first computer, a Timex Sinclair 1500 in 82, my freshman year in H.S. Everyone thought I was a big weenie and I was never socially accepted. in 85 I finally got an XT, I wanted an Apple][ but they were going by the wayside so I decided to get the XT scrictly based on software availability. I was a manager at Pizza Hut, things were looking grim for my future, I couldn't afford to go to college and was married. Then I got sick of all this and joined the Coast Guard, went to MST School in Virginia for the Coast Guard, 30% of MST's are system managers of some sort. I thought I might get lucky, I did, I scored a 99% on the computer section of the course and was made System Administrator of the 4th floor of Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington DC. I then got out of after my tour, I now collect older systems as a hobby, im way past 40 systems now, I have no idea how many I have, my new wife , hehe, another long story, tolerates it, and Im a network engineer for the Dept of Labor. I owe all this to Sir Clive Sinclair and my mom for encouraging my interest. I make about 43k a year, own my own home, not too bad for 30 and not a day in college. Good luck, and don't give up. Bill Girnius ---------- > From: Wirehead Prime <wirehead(a)retrocomputing.com> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: PDP-8/Es available > Date: Wednesday, January 21, 1998 10:45 AM > > > > > Ahh, that sucks! My parents have control of my money again, so I'd never get away with spending > > $50 on old computers... (They're trying to discourage me from playing with > > computers, and being about as subtle as a jackhammer...) > > I'll leave this public since it might be useful to someone...I'm 29 now > but when I was 16 or 17 my parents expended GREAT energy trying to get me > to stop playing with computers because my dad thought they were a FAD > (hahahahahahahahahahaa) and my mom thought it was unhealthy for me to > hide in the basement all the time like some brain-damaged monster. > > Tell your parents that today I have a college degree, have been out on my > own working productively since I was 20 (with VERY little external > support), earn twice the median income in my state, started a successful > business, own my own home, am married and honoring my parents by living > an upstanding and productive life. Playing with computers all those > years created that for me. And playing with OLD computers made me > self-reliant enough that in the last 9 years I've been unemployed a total > of about a week. > > My parents realize their mistake now...my father tearfully gave me his > gold retirement watch, which I accepted reluctantly, to show how proud > he is of me. My parents are happy with me and I'm happy with myself all > thanks to my tinkering all those years in the basement. > > > it'd be meeting the trashcan in a hurry. But if I tell them I got it free, > > they may not care. My parents (Esp. my stepdad) have a thing for tossing > > whatever I have that they don't like [Like my copy of Sailor Moon manga #13]) > > My brother tossed out a perfectly good 11/34a, some RL02s, a DecWriter > and a Franklin Ace 1200 from my parents' basement because he wanted a > weight room and my stuff was in the way. Pretty self-righteous of him > considering *I'M* not the one who's 42 and still living WITH mom and dad! > > BUT I'M NOT BITTER!!! =-D > > (Isn't it odd that if you get it free, they'll let you keep but if you > spent money on it they want to throw it away?) > > When I was 18 I waited until my folks were gone to move an 11/23 and two > RL02s downstairs to my bedroom. I made sure it was all racked up before > they got home...so it'd look too big and heavy for them to carry outside. > =-) I LOVED that machine! I put it behind the door sort of...so that > you could only open the door about 18"...kept my mom out of my room. =) > > Anthony Clifton - Wirehead

28 years, 3 months

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test-drb