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101090 discussions

[TUHS] Fwd: Choice of Unix for 11/03 and 11/23+ Systems

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Warner Losh > If we can't use MINIUNIX to rebuild MINIUNIX kernel, should we try to > bodge together rebuilding via apout? Good basic idea (using a different system to build on), but there's a better/easier approach (in the same basic vein): bring up V6, and mount the RK pack with Mini-Unix on it (it's a V6 file system, so is mountable); V6 is rock solid running under simulators. The V6 tools can I'm pretty sure be used directly to build new Mini-Unix kernels; user program can I think use the V6 C compiler, but I'm pretty sure not the standard V6 linker (the Mini-Unix linker loads tham at the non-standard address used by Mini-Unix). Noel

5 years, 6 months

Thoughts on restricted distribution documents (Dec Professional 350)

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

Question for the group: I have a document set here from DEC that is the "XT Hardware Handbook". It's basically the entire pre-release documentation set for the "XT-100" terminal/computer which became the Professional 325/350. Is there a copy of this on the internet, and what are the thoughts on scanning this? Is there already a better copy of this information out there, this seems to cover the whole internal bus, how the cards work, and so forth... Chris

5 years, 6 months

[TUHS] Fwd: Choice of Unix for 11/03 and 11/23+ Systems

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 01:51 PM 9/30/2020, Noel Chiappa wrote: >I guess all this PDP-11 hardware detail isn't really on-topic for this list; I >should move it to Classic Computers, or something. I've got Riordan's udis[01..10].DSK disk images that I presume are similar to http://www.bitsavers.org/bits/Terak/mini-unix/ IMD images. Which filesystem would I find in these images, and which tool can burst the image into its files? - John

5 years, 6 months

ISO: Motorola MDP-1000 info/software

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- This is a long shot, but I was curious if anyone might have information on the Motorola MDP-1000 minicomputer. I picked one up recently and I'm working on restoring it. Of particular interest is the power supply, which is external to the processor and which I am missing. I think I have the voltages worked out (+/-5V and +/-15V), but there are a number of other signals on the power supply connector that I'm unsure of at the moment. I've put a few pictures up here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aqb36sqnCIfMpIVYmzKjFnsT3nHh8w?e=b2iqqv I'll note that this isn't technically an MDP-1000 -- it's labeled as an MDP-6650 on the rear. I suspect that this is a ruggedized version of the 1000 intended for harsher environments. The front panel of mine appears to be identical to the drawings of the MDP-1000 in the manuals I have. It also came with a binder of documentation (but alas no schematics) that I'll be scanning soon and getting off to Al. It's an odd little system -- 5 12-bit registers, a 12-bit ALU, and a 12-bit Instruction Register, but the memory is 8 bits wide. Instructions are packed into two bytes normally, but there's a special 64-byte region of memory that can be used to store "shared bytes," which allow encoding certain instructions into a single byte, taking the other byte from the shared region. I've never seen anything quite like this. I wonder why they didn't just use 12-bit wide memory... Also the process for using the front panel to examine and deposit memory is insane. Here's the instructions for reading a memory location; it's 10 steps. Depositing is 17. https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aqb36sqnCIfMpIVWThgwlxgCMQo59A If anyone has anything on this, let me know. Not expecting much, but it's worth a shot. - Josh

5 years, 6 months

paging Jerome Fine

by jwest＠ezwind.net

Anyone know if Jerome Fine is still around and/or a good email address?

5 years, 6 months

Shipping via USPS Los Angeles is STALLED

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

I have a vintage computer sitting in the LA USPS since 9/17, with no further updates. I have read in the local papers there that the entire post office has ground to a halt. What's going on there? I have never heard of anything like this. I assume my package will survive but think of the zoo there if they've been stacking packages for TWO WEEKS. I'd strongly suggest not attempting to ship anything out of LA for the time being. WOW. I know people complain about the post office, I am not complaining, just stating the facts. Normally the USPS is reliable. They must really have overall problems in southern CA due to the fire and related management issues. BIll

5 years, 6 months

Digitizing video frame for printing

by ljw-cctech＠ljw.me.uk

Sorry I accidentally deleted this message from Dag Spicer, so here it is for cctalk. Reply to him or the list, not me! Lawrence -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Digitizing video frame for printing Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2020 06:00:21 +0000 From: Dag Spicer via cctech <cctech at classiccmp.org> Reply-To: Dag Spicer <dspicer at computerhistory.org>, General Discussion: On-Topic Posts <cctech at classiccmp.org> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Hi there, Trying to help a former operator of a digital portrait scanning booth ?back in the day?? He writes: ++++ IN 1976, I worked at "get your portrait by computer" store. The heart of the system was a 16 bit, Data General, Nova II computer. A black and white, analog, standard definition CCTV camera was tethered to a "digitizer" box that was connected to the computer. The photographer hit the ?Capture? button on the "Digitizer" box to instantaneously freeze the image and "digitize" it. The image was then sent to a Centronics, 102AL, 7 pin, dot matrix printer to print. A perceived grey scale of 26 shades was created by numbers and letters. What I am trying to find out is what the "Digitizer" box was and how it worked. Ram? Tape loop? I DO know that it said 'Digital Image Systems' on the outside but have not been able to learn more. ++++ Can anyone help with more information about DIS or generically about these systems? They were popular in shopping malls for a few years in the mid-70s? Thanks for any tips! Dag ?? Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94043 dspicer at computerhistory.org<mailto:dspicer at computerhistory.org>

5 years, 6 months

5.25" analog alignment floppy disk

by ccth6600＠gmail.com

I have two poorly aligned 5.25" floppy drives. They read/write disks formatted by themselves but are marginal on disks formatted by other drives. Rather than using a crude "good enough" alignment I would like to do this properly. Is there still a supplier for 5.25" analog alignment floppy disks? Thanks Tom Hunter

5 years, 6 months

SCP/Microsoft 20HAL uploader

by rich.cini＠gmail.com

All ? I?ve done a quite a bit of work with my Seattle Gazelle, and I just did some work on 86DOS.SYS (not released in source form, as far as I know) and its comparison to PC DOS 1.0 (at the code level, a very high correlation as you can imagine). Partially related to that is a program called ?20HAL? which was a code uploader Microsoft used in the late stages to get code from Microsoft in Bellevue to IBM in Boca Raton, FL. I did a little write-up on it here (http://www.classiccmp.org/cini/hal.htm) There are some holes in the analysis ? I think it?s pretty close, though -- but I?d really like to get some more details on it. Unfortunately, it?s 40-year-old code at this point, and how many people remember how they used a file transfer utility that long ago? Anyway, enjoy the read. If anyone sees any corrections that need to be made, let me know. Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

5 years, 6 months

Disabling SCSI parity checking to dump disk on ACB4000 MFM-SCSI adapter?

by engel＠multicores.org

Hi, still working on backing up the Tektronix 440x disks. My current problem is that the ACB4000 SCSI-to-MFM adapter doesn?t support SCSI parity. I finally managed to find a PCI SCSI controller (Adaptec 2940) and a Pentium 4 PC with PCI slots and installed OpenBSD 6.7. I disabled parity checking in the Adaptec BIOS config and it detects a disk at ID 0 with no name. So far, so good. However, OpenBSD always seems to enable SCSI parity and complains about disk parity errors. I tried to disable all lines in the aic7xxx and ahc_pci driver source files that seem to enable parity, but nothing seems to make a difference. The drive/ACB4000 is not detected by OpenBSD, I get a "device not configured" error when accessing the disk device files (/dev/sdxc and /dev/rsdxc). Do you know if is there another OS which would make it easier to change crucial SCSI parameters in the driver (config) or maybe a specialized tool that could help me to image the disk? -- Michael

5 years, 6 months

Alpha Micro goes gopher

by spectre＠floodgap.com

(also posted to VCF) If you'd like a longer story version, I posted this in long form with some pictures: https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2020/09/hacking-gopher-client-into-alpha-micro.… I've hacked up a Gopher client into the Alpha Micro. It requires AMOS 2.3A and either AlphaTCP 1.3C or 1.5A, and is written in both assembly (using a hacked version of the AlphaTCP finger client) and AlphaBASIC. gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/archive/alpha-micro/gopher And why would I do this, other than the fact I like Gopherspace? Because I've also uploaded the Alpha Micro Users' Society Network Library to the Floodgap gopher server, with oodles of free binaries and source code lovingly preserved in their original PPNs. gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/archive/alpha-micro/amus (No Gopher client? Visit https://gopher.floodgap.com/overbite/ to download one, or view it on the proxy: https://gopher.floodgap.com/gopher/gw?gopher://gopher.floodgap.com:70/1/arc… ) And, if you want to know more about Alpha Microsystems, the Alpha Micro Phun Machine has been updated as well: http://ampm.floodgap.com/ -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- Seen on hand dryer: "Push button for a message from your congressman." -----

5 years, 6 months

dec tk50z-ga issues

by plamenspam＠afterpeople.com

Hi all, Since I don't have a machine with qbus and I need to backup some vms and ultrix tk50 tapes, I purchased a tk50z-ga from ebay. Upon power up, the red led flashing rapidly(which means drive fault) then goes to solid red. I've never used TK50 drives in the past so if you have any hint how to troubleshoot this it would be appreciated. Or should I start looking for a replacement? Regards, Plamen

5 years, 7 months

Tektronix PDP-11 Signal Processing System BASIC 1980

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Just recovered these RX01 diskettes today ca. 1980 http://bitsavers.org/bits/Tektronix/SPS_BASIC manuals http://bitsavers.org/test_equipment/tektronix/wdi

5 years, 7 months

TRS-80 Trash Talk Live #7

by pete＠pski.net

We?re having another TRS-80 Trash Talk online gathering tomorrow. Everyone is welcome to join us! https://www.trs80trashtalk.com/2020/08/trs-80-trash-talk-live-7-is-coming-o… <https://www.trs80trashtalk.com/2020/08/trs-80-trash-talk-live-7-is-coming-o…> Thanks, Pete

5 years, 7 months

Disabling SCSI parity checking to dump disk on ACB4000, MFM-SCSI adapter?

by syseng＠gfsys.co.uk

On 09/24/20 18:00, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Disabling SCSI parity checking to dump disk on ACB4000 > MFM-SCSI adapter? I have a sun 3 system with acb4000 and suspect the protocol was not fully sorted in that time frame. They can be fussy about what they will talk to, ime. Would lend a hand if you are in the uk, but otherwise, if you have an early Sparc system, I would try that, as it would probably still support the older controllers. Sparcstation 1 or 2 + Sunos probably has the required entries in the format utility, format.dat file. An early pci or isa Adaptec card might be worth trying as well, under Suse 11.4 or similar, as that has a good disk utility... Chris

5 years, 7 months

DLT III tapes (TK85-K) and sticky-shed

by a.carlini＠ntlworld.com

I've seen plenty of complaints (here and elsewhere) about TK50 cartridges being very difficult to read these days. I'm trying to read TK85-K (DLT III) cartridges and I'm experiencing problems. I've had tapes ripped (although I've found that data elsewhere). So now I'm being particularly careful. If the drive asks for a cleaning tape, I run through a cleaning cycle until it is happy and then I try to load the tape again. However, by the time I've mounted the tape, the drive "Cleaning Required" light is on again. This happens repeatedly, I run a cleaning pass or two and then I get a green light. I might even get as far as loading the tape without and issue, but by the time the tape is mounted, the "Cleaning Required" light is on. So is this likely to be sticky shed? Is the DLT III formulation known to have the same issues? Does baking help? (Not that I'm set up to do that, but I'm in no rush ...) I suppose that it is possible that my cleaning tape is worn out and now past its sell by date. Has anyone cleaned a TZ87 or TZ88 head successfully? It doesn't seem to be terribly accessible, and I'm not sure what I can dismantle without wrecking the alignment. Anyone got any useful suggestions? Antonio -- Antonio Carlini antonio at acarlini.com

5 years, 7 months

Exploring early GUIs

by mjkerpan＠kerpan.com

Something in another recent thread about LISP machines got me wondering: how many early graphical systems are well emulated (or emulated at all)? I know that there are more or less functional emulations of Alto, Star, and Lisa out there, but what about the various LISP machines or the early workstations (Sun 68K, Apollo, etc) Also, assuming that there are emulators for some of these systems out there, has any software to run on them and been archived? Mike

5 years, 7 months

Osborne 1 keyboard repair?

by ccth6600＠gmail.com

I am trying to figure out if it is possible to repair a Osborne 1 keyboard. The keyboard is made by "Oak Switch Systems" and the type is FTM or "Full Travel Membrane". The problem I am seeing is that 3 keys ("h", "j" and "y") are permanently pressed. I did some experiments with the "h" key. I measured about 20 ohm across the matrix pins for the "h" key. I pulled off the "h" key keycap and the white plastic plunger with the both large and small spring - no change in resistance. I cleaned the now exposed membrane using Isopropyl alcohol - no change in resistance. I applied moderate heat using an electric hair dryer to both sides of the area around the "h" key - no change in resistance. I then used a lab power supply set to current limit hoping to zap whatever is causing the partial short (20 ohm). I slowly increased the voltage and current limit in short bursts until I hit 100 mA before I gave up the experiment not wanting to destroy the two flex PCBs feeding into the membrane. They did get warm but not hot. I have run out of ideas of what else to try. I still measure 20 ohm across the two keyboard matrix pins associated with the "h" key. Has anyone got experience repairing or restoring this type of membrane keyboard mechanism used in the Osborne 1 and probably in other keyboards too? Here are some good and detailed photos of keyboard mechanism: https://www.flickr.com/photos/123564336 at N03/sets/72157644113347562/ Thanks Tom Hunter

5 years, 7 months

Exploring early GUIs

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Lars Brinkhoff > it was AI rather than MC. As I'm sure you know, AI had the Rubin 10-11 > interface Really? (I expect you're correct, mind.) I just remember one day MC wasn't running as normal, and I was told it was because CHEOPS was in some tournament, and MC had been taken offline so that it could focus on the game. So I assumed CHEOPS was connected to MC (and had indeed wondered why/how, when I wrote that message, with the Rubin interface being on AI). > communicating over Chaosnet. At least, that's how I interpret the code > in MacHack. Again, probably right. It was pretty early, but I guess the CHAOSNET was already running then. My guess is that AI didn't do much but act as a communication node between CHEOPS and MC, for that. > There is some debate over whether the CONS had a display of its own, and > if so whether it could draw to a bitmap. Do you remember? Not explicily, but I would tend to guess 'no'; I would tend to guess that they were still in the mindset where it was a specialized co-processor, like CHEOPS. I certainly don't recall a 'CONS display' in the room where the first CADR display was; but that doesn't mean much. (Actually, I'm not positive there was a CADR display in there the night I recall Moon trying to get it running; for sure a Knight TV console, and he may have been using it to run something on it to poke at the CADR.) > they have a hard time pinpointing a birthdate for the CADR. Do you have > a recollection when, even what year, the first boot attempt was? Sorry, no; it only stuck in my memory because I was later taken at having beeen there for the early CADR work; I think that night I only barely knew what a CADR was. (I was kind of amused that Moon's audience that night was someone from LCS... :-) I mean, it was pretty early, but I have no idea of even what year it was. Noel

5 years, 7 months

Interface Technology RS-432 manual

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I don't remember if this was discussed here recently here or on the VCF site, I found one message here about it. Found the manual going through some test equipment manual boxes http://bitsavers.org/test_equipment/interfaceTechnology/Interface_Technolog…

5 years, 7 months

Looking for Logicraft Omni-Ware

by camiel＠vaxbarn.com

I?m looking for a piece of software called Omni-Ware for VMS or UNIX , by a Nashua company called Logicraft. I?ve just received the pieces to build a Logicraft PC (286 motherboard with custom BIOS and a special network card that emulates the keyboard, mouse, CGA video card and hard disk). I also received the documentation for the VAX/VMS version of the software, but I?m now looking for the accompanying software for VMS or UNIX. The idea is to install this software on a workstation, and connect it to the Omni-Ware PC. The PC then boots off a disk image stored on the workstation, with input and output in an X-Windows window. Logicraft apparently supplied disk images with DOS, Xenix, OS/2 or MS Windows installed. I?m really hoping someone has a copy of this software still lying around somewhere. Cheers, Camiel

5 years, 7 months

Exploring early GUIs

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Lars Brinkhoff > There are emulators for the CADR Lisp machine ... There's no emulators > for the CONS, but I claim it would be interesting to attempt one. I'm not sure CONS ever ran as a stand-alone system; I suspect (but don't recall for sure; RG, TK or Moon or someone could confirm one way or the other) that it ran as a loosely-coupled co-processor to MC, the way the Chess Machine did. The CONS and the Chess Machine were both in the same room; 906-907 or so: https://gunkies.org/wiki/File:9th_floor_techsquare.png When the first CADR was built, its console was in the room next door (in the higher-numbered room direction); I remember watching over Moon's shouulder the night they first tried to boot it. Noel

5 years, 7 months

Tektronix 440x photos

by engel＠multicores.org

I managed to take some pictures of our Tektronix Smalltalk machines today: https://multicores.org/pictures/Tektronix_440x/ Both 4404s are identical, including the firmware versions in the EPROMs. The 4406 is a bit harder to disassemble, this will take some more time. All of the photos inside this directory are released into the public domain (and I should get a tripod and better lighting...). Trying to get our ancient EPROM programmer to work now... -- Michael

5 years, 7 months

Vintage BBS setup for demo

by rich.cini＠gmail.com

Is there anyone on-list with experience setting-up a Searchlight (or similar) BBS? I have mine up and running with multiple dial-up nodes (for a hopeful future VCF demonstration) but I?m having problems with setting up the file areas properly. If someone could drop me a note off-list, I?d appreciate it. Thanks! Rich http://www.classiccmp.org/cini Long Island S100 User?s Group Get Outlook<https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS

5 years, 7 months

Exploring early GUIs

by couryhouse＠aol.com

I re mn ember? GEm5 as a guide ran under dos .? . Ed# On Friday, September 18, 2020 Paul Koning via cctalk <paulkoning at comcast.net; cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > On Sep 17, 2020, at 10:18 PM, Michael Kerpan via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > > Something in another recent thread about LISP machines got me wondering: > how many early graphical systems are well emulated (or emulated at all)? I > know that there are more or less functional emulations of Alto, Star, and > Lisa out there, but what about the various LISP machines or the early > workstations (Sun 68K, Apollo, etc) Also, assuming that there are emulators > for some of these systems out there, has any software to run on them and > been archived? > > Mike One system that could be considered a GUI, or at least the beginnings of one, is the PLATO system.? Emulations of that are alive and well, in particular the system described at cyber1.org. ??? paul

5 years, 7 months

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