test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

See below. Please reply directly to Les if you can help. Reply-to: el-supremo at archaeologist.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2013 07:07:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Les <el-supremo at archaeologist.com> To: vcf at vintage.org Subject: AST 6066d data restore disc I'm looking for a data restore disc for a 1994 AST Advantage! 6066d desktop computer running Windows 3.1. Item details are: AST Works Advantage! Data Disc 2.0 cd rom (1994) ID/PN 916049-001 I'd be most grateful for any help or advice available. Many thanks, Les

12 years, 9 months

VCF-GB / Selectric

by cctech＠ljw.me.uk

I will be taking my IBM I/O Selectric and the 360/30 emulator to VCF-GB this weekend. This time it's in Coalville, near Leicester: http://www.silicondreams.org.uk/ You can see video of the Selectric running at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRdma6NINIw The 360/30 is running a simple assembler program to print large letters using a 6x8 matrix. You type in 4 short lines and it echoes them back in the larger form. The final printout can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljw/9201494189/ -- Lawrence Wilkinson lawrence at ljw.me.uk The IBM 360/30 page http://www.ljw.me.uk/ibm360

12 years, 9 months

3b2 reference/hardware manuals

by jpathy＠mail.nanosouffle.net

Hello, If someone with 3b2 system can share reference/hardware manuals, rom, firmware etc., it would be great. Thanks.

12 years, 9 months

Altair 8800b

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

I have a very nice Altair 8800b for sale. It includes the following S-100 boards: MITS 8800B CPU BD REV 0 PCC TURNKEY MODULE PCC S-100 INTERFACE CEPC 4-SIO-1 The label on back reads: PCC Pertec Computer Corporation Model No. 88-1250 Part No. 200351-05 Serial No. 300-000270 The front panel is in excellent condition. The rest of the case has some scratches and peeling paint, but is otherwise in very good condition, typical for its age. Internally it is in excellent condition, very clean with all parts in tact. I've never attempted to power up this unit but have no doubt that it can easily be restored to functional condition. You can see photos here: http://vintagetech.com/photos/S-100/Altair%208800b%20%231/ I'm asking $1,200 or best offer. Please contact me directly for more details. Thanks! -- Sellam Ismail VintageTech ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintagetech.com Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. The truth is always simple. * * * WARNING * * * THIS COMMUNICATION HAS BEEN CAPTURED, ANALYZED AND STORED BY THE UNITED STATES FOR REASONS IT WILL NOT DISCLOSE, KNOWLEDGE OF SUCH ACTIVITIES HAVING BEEN REVEALED TO THE PUBLIC. SUCH KNOWLEDGE SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE A WAIVER OF MY UNALIENABLE RIGHTS TO PRIVACY AND FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION, NOR SHALL IT REPRESENT LACHES ON ANY FUTURE ACTIONS TO RECOVER DAMAGES FOR INJURY TO MY RIGHTS.

12 years, 9 months

stupid programmers, was Re: Old UNIX Systems

by elson＠pico-systems.com

Most never accepted the validity of the concept. "Just get an adequate computer. That's management's problem." OK, another story. A friend of mine was a Physics student at Rolla (University of MO sub-campus) and also very good at programming/analysis. He had a roommate who was an ME student, and just learning programming. He saw his professor fiddling with one of those 15-tile puzzles, and said "Hey, I could write a program to solve those". His prof said it would be a good exercise, and gave him an account on the 370/168 at the main campus. He wrote it, and tried it, but it kept running out of time. He assumed an infinite loop, and eventually mentioned it to the Physics student. My friend sensed a teachable moment and said, Hmm, you have 16 nested do loops >from 1 to 16. Do you know how many total iterations that is? The guy whips out his trusty HP45 and starts calculating. My friend smiles, as he already knows that 16^^16 will not be computable on the calculator. So, they trudge over to the comp. Sci. building and he shows the guy the System/360 storage and timing estimates book, and they work out that JUST the loops, themselves, will take something like 10 billion years to complete. He eventually chopped out useless iterations and got a program that ran in a minute or so. So, the moral is that there are relatively modest problems that can become TOTALLY un-computable with a poor algorithm. No computer ever made could have finished his poorly thought out program. Jon

12 years, 9 months

Cleveland, OH area

by sales＠elecplus.com

If you are in the Cleveland area, and are interested in old stuff, send me a list, and I have a recycler who will let me know when they get something in. They will not hold for more than 2 days before they shred. He does not want lots of calls from different people, but if I send him a list, he will keep an eye out for things, and let me know when they come in. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3345 / Virus Database: 3204/6454 - Release Date: 07/01/13

12 years, 9 months

Xerox Sigma 9 batch setup?

by dfnr2＠yahoo.com

Hi all, I'm trying to identify the batch setup that I learned programming on.? It was the very first computer I ever used, at Memphis State University in the math department in 1977 or so.? The campus mainframe was a Xerox Sigma-9 time sharing system running CP-V.? There was a computer center in an admin building, and some satellite rooms around campus.? The Math department had a room full of ASR-33's (or ASR35's?), another room containing several Hazeltine 2000's and 1500's and two or three LA36's, and there was a batch room containing several keypunch machines (IBM?), and a batch setup consiting of a card reader the size of a deep freezer, and a page printer.? To run a job, the attendant would stick your fortran cards at the end of an "emulator deck", and run the whole thing through, and the program listing (if requested) and results would print out on the page printer. Was there such a setup for the Sigma 9?? Or is it likely they had a whole batch minicomputer set up in that room?? I don't remember having to learn anything new about the FORTRAN IV compiler when we graduated to the interactive terminals later in the semester.? For what it's worth, I vaguely remember the hardware being painted brown, or some other earthy color, but then, that memory is nearly 40 years old. I know it's an odd request, but nostalgia makes you wonder the strangest things. Thanks, Dave

12 years, 9 months

large qty of early Apple/Mac needs to leave my warehouse

by sales＠elecplus.com

I have a large qty (1 entire 20x20 foot room) of early Apple/Mac stuff that needs to leave the warehouse. We really don't deal in Apple products, and I have sat on these for the past 16 years, hoping someone would appreciate them. The are a few Apple II, LCII and LCIII, PowerPro, Mac Classic, Mac 128, Mac 256, lsome newer towers (still 16+ years old), lots of monitors (from the old tilt-screen to 17" multimedia and tall word processing screens) and all-in one machines, some lasers, some extra cards for the Apple IIs, floppy drives (single and double), a little bit of game software, some manuals, some boot disks, some utilities and word processing, Claris, over 70 keyboards, etc. Also lots of modems, adapters, cables, etc. We are bringing in laptops by the truckload, and I REALLY need the space. The first person to offer $2000 will receive nicely boxed and palletized merchandise. Some of the all-in-ones have cracked housings; if you don't want those, I will take them the recycle center. If nobody claims these this week, the whole lot is likely to get recycled. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3345 / Virus Database: 3204/6450 - Release Date: 06/29/13

12 years, 9 months

Rise of the machines, south of Milton Keynes • The Register

by woyciesjes＠sbcglobal.net

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/29/geeks_guide_tnmoc/ -- --- Dave Woyciesjes --- ICQ# 905818 --- CompTIA A+ Certified IT Tech - http://certification.comptia.org/ --- HDI Certified Support Center Analyst - http://www.ThinkHDI.com/ Registered Linux user number 464583 "Computers have lots of memory but no imagination." "The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back." - from some guy on the internet.

12 years, 9 months

Setting the Scrolling Region on VT100's VT220's VT320's VT420's, VT510's etc.

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

I sent the following to alt.sys.pdp11 just in case anyone could use the information. If there is anything that is incorrect, please advise. It is a summary of the information received from the classiccmp list and John Wilson. There were no replies from usenet, but someone might find the information useful and the post will be archived in a different location. Jerome Fine ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just in case anyone is interested, the solution was provided on the classiccmp list. The major problem was with respect to how default parameters are handled in addition to a misunderstanding with regard to line numbers which are invalid or out of range in the Scrolling Region request. <TOP> and <BOT> are replaced by decimal digits from "0" to "9". <ESC> is replaced by the octal 33 character. (a) If any parameter is omitted, a default is always supplied. For the Scrolling Region request, the format is: <ESC>[<TOP>;<BOT>r where <TOP> is the higher (smaller) line number to be used and <BOT> is the lower (larger) line number to be used. If <TOP> is missing or is "0", then "1" is used instead. If <BOT> is missing or is "0", the the line number for the bottom of the screen is used instead. In addition, <BOT> must exceed <TOP> by at least one. If <BOT> is not greater than <TOP> by at least one OR <BOT> exceeds the number of lines for the screen, the request is ignored. (b) At least 3 characters, including leading zeros, "0", are allowed for any parameter, and probably any reasonable number of leading zeros are allowed in practice. I have not, myself, verified the above information, but it has been tested by a few other individuals and is probably reliable. If anyone has read this far, then the solution seems quite obvious: <ESC>[16r can be used and the line at the bottom of the screen will be used as the default. For a DEC VT100 with AVO, <BOT> will be defaulted to "24". For any other DEC VT100 compatible terminal, such as the VT420 and VT510 which support up to 48 lines, <BOT> may be defaulted to "48" or line number 48 at the bottom of the screen when the VT420 terminal is set to that many lines. For Ersatz-11, I normally run in FULL SCREEN mode using the DOS variant. My video card is then set for and used with a screen of either 80 columns by 50 lines OR 132 columns by 44 lines. <BOT> is then "50" for the former and "44" for the latter. The Win32 variant of Ersatz-11 also supports up to 255 columns by 255 lines. Since my video card and monitor combination usefully supports only up to 198 columns by 60 lines, my maximum initial setting is: E11 /CONSIZE:124x60 or 124 columns by 60 lines. When a WIDE screen is requested, the number of columns expands to 198 columns by 60 lines (where 198.4 is truncated from 1.6 * 124). In both cases, <BOT> is "60" or line number 60 at the bottom of the emulated VT100 screen. If anyone has any additional questions, please ask. Jerome Fine >Jerome H. Fine wrote: > I have a simple request for anyone who is has a real DEC VT100 > or compatible terminal (VT100, VT220, VT320, VT420, VT510) > and especially VT100 software emulations, either as standalone > software or as part of a PDP-11 emulator such as Ersatz-11. > > In respect of the latter, I have been using the Ersatz-11 PDP-11 > emulator to support VT100 emulation with more than 24 lines > for a few years. In particular, as part of the implementation, > when the Range Escape Sequence is used to begin the Scrolling > Region at a line less than 24 for the TOP and a line at the bottom > of the screen for the BOTTOM, I use: > > <ESC>[16;255r > > to scroll between line 16 and the bottom of the screen. For > real DEC VT100 terminals with the AVO option, there is > ONLY one size for the number of lines, namely 24 lines. > > Since I can't ATTACH files to be sent to a newsgroup, > below are two files which can be used to erase the screen, > set the scrolling region to line 16 at the top and line 99 or line 255, > respectively, at the bottom of the screen. If the any VT100 > (compatible) terminal or emulated VT100 terminal set for 24 lines > is able to handle setting the scrolling region in this manner, each > file with FIFTY lines should begin starting to display "Line 1 of File" > of the file on line 12 of the "terminal" and "Line 2 of File" on line 16 > of the "terminal" the and end up showing approximately six lines of > the file at the bottom of the screen as the previous lines of the file > scroll off the TOP of the scrolling region (at line 16 of the terminal) > with just "Line 1 of File" remaining on line 12 of the "terminal". > > I would very much appreciate learning the results of sending > both files to a DEC (or emulated) VT100 terminal. If they act > the same was as Ersatz-11, the results will be identical with using > 24 in place of 99 or 255. > > Jerome Fine > > P.S. When the file is transferred to the system, replace <ESC> > with octal 33!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KED can be used under RT-11. > The user eliminates each <ESC> and enters TWO <ESC> > characters instead. Alternatively, if you can remember the > first line correctly, you can enter the complete file in about > 2 minutes by duplicating (cut and paste) the other 49 lines. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > <ESC>2J<ESC>[12;1HLine 1 of File<ESC>[16;99r<ESC>[16;1H > Line 2 of File > [Snip] > Line 50 of File > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > <ESC>2J<ESC>[12;1HLine 1 of File<ESC>[16;255r<ESC>[16;1H > Line 2 of File > [Snip] > Line 50 of File > -------------------------------------------------------------------------

12 years, 9 months

Abandoned equipment in the UK?

by jon＠jonworld.com

My wife and I were goofing off, looking for abandoned homes in the UK that we could potentially squat in. [ please read that with some sarcasm intended ] Regardless, after lots of Google and such, we found the following on an urban exploration forum. http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/mansions-manors-country-houses/81134-br… I don't want to get into the merits of tresspassing, especially because the poster says the property is "owned" and is being redeveloped. However, I thought it was interesting... The site was a telco exchange in the 1950s and has some teletypes and other interesting things in the basement. It's possible that the owner of the facility wants the stuff out of there. It has a true plug-board for telco ops and other stuff I can't identify. It may be worth investigating for someone in the UK. -- -Jon Jonathan Katz, Indianapolis, IN.

12 years, 9 months

Fwd: [rete] Working IBM punch card reader?

by dave.thearchivist＠gmail.com

On Tue, Jul 2, 2013 at 7:53 PM, Richard L. Kremer <Richard.L.Kremer at dartmouth.edu> wrote: > Dear colleagues, > > An anthropologist friend of mine seeks to read a set of 1200+ IBM punch > cards (80 cols), prepared in the1960s to code survey results. But we cannot > find a working IBM punch card reader in New England. > > Would anyone know of an IBM data processing unit that could read these cards > and convert their data into comupter files of numbers? > > Many thanks. Rich Kremer A request on the rete mailing list Dave Caroline

12 years, 9 months

[OT] A new toy for Gene...

by alexandre.tabajara＠gmail.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Sea-Harrier-FA2-Jump-Jet-/281126520805 Hey, F-15 are out, the Sea Harrier is way more interesting :oD (drooling...) --- Enviado do meu Motorola PT550 Meu site: http://www.tabalabs.com.br

12 years, 9 months

cctalk Digest, Vol 118, Issue 88

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 11:05 -0500 6/29/13, bear wrote: >On Jun 28, 2013, at 2:10 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote: > >> Was the MO drive used on the NeXT cubes a standard 650MB unit, or >>was there something special about it? (e.g. sector size, encoding, >>format, etc.)? > >Not standard. The disks it uses are physically different from >"standard" ones. They are physically the same as early WORM disks >like the IBM 3363, though the media is different. > >The drive NeXT used was made by Canon, and is the same as the Canon >DiskFile. However, you cannot use a Canon DiskFile to read NeXT >cartridges because the low level format is unique to the NeXT. > >So if you want to read NeXT MOs, you need a NeXT. Agreed with bear >I have something like six units here, and none of them work. >Including the one in my old cube I bought in '95 which worked when I >bought it, continued working for many years, was possibly the last >functioning NeXT MO in existence, and then just stopped while it was >in storage. I have the idea it could be coaxed back into life >somehow, but they are just about perfectly impossible to work on. If >anybody has had any success repairing these, I am unaware of it. One >guy says he's had success, but won't share information, so I am >choosing to believe he's a liar. Almost agreed with bear. This might be me, and if so, I'm flaky, but was telling the truth as I knew it. However the MO drive failed again shortly thereafter, so I gave up in frustration and never reported what I'd done. Apologies if I left anyone hanging! I have only one MO drive, so my statistics aren't as good as his, but yeah, I don't know of any that are still working. Mine worked for years, then quit working (more retries, then infinite retries). I took it out, got it far enough open to get a q-tip full of isopropanol to the lens, and cleaned the dust off the lens and the slide rails for the carriage. This was a fiddly process, involving de-mating connectors, switching back and forth between top and bottom of the drive, and figuring out how to prop the drive up with some parts hinged open. However I would not call it "perfectly impossible" - I did it, which probably means Tony could do it with the drive running and one hand tucked safely into his hip pocket. The unit ran normally when I got it back together, but for not more than a few months. I have not taken a second pass at it. Dust was likely an issue with my machine, because it had been running with the fan in the normal orientation (air comes in the drive and out the back of the machine). Good for cooling, but if there's any dust at all in the environment, it ends up forming bunnies on the MO lens. The fan is mechanically symmetrical enough that it's easy to invert it to run "backward". Air comes in the fan, dust cakes on the rest of the machine, and nothing settles in the MO drive. Good for optics - but bad for cooling. On my 68040 cube, this led to very occasional crashes due to SCSI system faults. Since they happened with at least two different hard drives which were otherwise faultless, I deduce it was something to do with the motherboard, which was then getting the warmest air in the box blowing across it. (The crashes happened only during my morning "clean out old .nfs files" cron job, which did a "find / -name ....". I diagnosed them by distributed.net log file messages.) I put my fan back like it was, and the SCSI crashes stopped. Dust was clearly not the *only* issue with my machine. I surmise that it was exacerbating whatever slow degradation process affects all of them, and I bought myself a few extra months with the cleaning. More details available if anybody really needs them; I still have the drive and the rest of the system, and can repeat the disassembly I think, but not just immediately - I'm using the machine at the moment. FWIW, MO drive retry errors hang the machine - no monitor mode or good way to continue. The low-level drivers for the MO presumably operate at high priority, and block interrupts. SCSI problems are not so bad, which is yet another reason that if you have a NeXT running on a SCSI drive, switching to MO is a downgrade. They were a technology with an extremely high "cool" factor but a limited timespan of cost-effectiveness. >Good luck. You're going to need it. /@: Agreed with bear on that one, too. I have not looked into trying to find a replacement for the optical head. I suspect that would be pretty tough. At 18:23 -0500 6/30/13, <Dave R.> wrote: >I believe there are issues with dead electrolytic capacitors among >other things. I suggest not powering on a drive without disassembling >and checking it first, though; I've heard of many cases where smoke >comes out of the drive when powered on. Checking/replacing all the caps would take a while. The drives have a lot of parts. However this is as good an explanation as any I've heard. FWIW, there was no smoke from mine, then or yet (it's still powered, in my cube). Sorry for slow response, hope this is at least some useful. -- - Mark 210-379-4635 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Large Asteroids headed toward planets inhabited by beings that don't have technology adequate to stop them: Think of it as Evolution in Fast-Forward.

12 years, 9 months

old Apple/Mac

by sales＠elecplus.com

Pics are here https://plus.google.com/photos/106111250846948401252/albums/5895759956977025 233?banner=pwa Will the gent who wants these please call me? My emails to u keep bouncing back, says email not requested by recipient. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3345 / Virus Database: 3204/6453 - Release Date: 07/01/13

12 years, 9 months

Speaking of NeXT - mono video to VGA?

by toby＠telegraphics.com.au

I seem to recall having a conversation on the list not too long ago about the difficulty of converting NeXT mono video to VGA. At first I had thought this might need something as sophisticated as digital conversion, but somebody said it was only an electrical matter. What's the deal? What needs to be done - anyone know? I have a Cube with the fading type of NeXT monitor, you see... thanks, --Toby

12 years, 9 months

5363 ISA card

by supervinx＠libero.it

Hi ! I need an help about a card I found in the 5363. There's only a P/N, 92X7245. A quick search on ebay gave poor results: IOP card. It looked like a processor card: infact I found, under a heatsink, an 80286, 512MB of ram, ROM BIOS ... Under OS/400, an IOP card is related to an embedded server, but under SSP ? It has only a DB-9 female connector, like a CGA or MDA video adapter, but no provision for keyboard. Any hint?

12 years, 9 months

Lots of goodies that need homes

by slandon110＠gmail.com

Got the following stuff that need homes Brand New in Box Apple Keyboard II with cable $20 dollars BackPack 5.25inch Parallel Port Floppy Drive- Missing PSU, Requires 12V 1.25AMP DC HaBaDisk 800k Floppy Drive for Macintosh $20 dollars Macintosh SE Logic Board with MacViking Video card- comes with all cables and hardware to install into a Mac SE $40 dollars Nice early 82 Apple IIe system with Monitor 2, 2 Matching Disk IIs, Super Serial card and Microsoft Softcard Z80 Card $200 1 Early 83 Apple IIe, one broken key, works $25 1 Later //e Enhanced, Broken Delete Key otherwise works fine $25 I accept PayPal Thanks Steve

12 years, 9 months

WarGames IMSAI machine for sale (again) • The Register

by woyciesjes＠sbcglobal.net

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/27/wargames_imsai_machine_for_sale_aga… -- --- Dave Woyciesjes --- ICQ# 905818 --- CompTIA A+ Certified IT Tech - http://certification.comptia.org/ --- HDI Certified Support Center Analyst - http://www.ThinkHDI.com/ Registered Linux user number 464583 "Computers have lots of memory but no imagination." "The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back." - from some guy on the internet.

12 years, 9 months

early Apple/Mac stuff

by sales＠elecplus.com

Someone has claimed the entire batch. Thank you much for all the responses. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3345 / Virus Database: 3204/6453 - Release Date: 07/01/13

12 years, 9 months

Battleship terminal BB61

by jws＠jwsss.com

When the sailor gets into a battle station situation he could take the terminal with him for either armor, or to use the keyboard to bash someones brains out, or strangle them with the cable. Looks appropriate for the USS Iowa, or any of the 4 Iowa class ships. http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/0161020.jpg page of photos is at if you want to see more BB-61 http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/61g.htm Thanks Jim

12 years, 9 months

C64 Power Supply Replacement Options

by brain＠jbrain.com

Since I support the CBM crowd, I've had more than a few people send me comments over the past few years, asking when I might consider offering a replacement power supply for the home computing machines (VIC-20, 64, 128, +4) Initially, I resisted for liability reasons and certification costs. But, I decided earlier this year to put off those questions for a bit and just see what might be technically and economically possible. I've chased a few ultimately fruitless options, and I thought I'd see if some fellow soul on this list might have some ideas. Obviously, the first thought was a complete custom supply. My interest was never in power design, so I am ill-equipped (and uncertain of my abilities) to design such an item myself. Thus, I started looking for a manufacturer that could design one. Absolute requirements: 5VDC at 4.3A. 9VAC at 9VA unregulated To this I added my requirements: The 5VDC be a switching PSU output ISO C13 input power jack (so I can support many areas without building custom power cords 115/230 switchable design (or two very similar designs that can handle the 2 voltages) My cost under USD$30.00 per unit. Enclosed finished case, or be able to fit in a commonly available case design. Someone put me in touch with Stontronics overseas, which worked on an initial quote. But, I think the C13 and 115/230 requirements scared them off. I solicited information from Bear Power Supplies in the US, but they did not seem too keen on continuing the discussion, so I have nothing from them. I've also tried overseas suppliers, but I have not yielded fruit yet. I've asked all the PSU suppliers on globalsources.com and alibaba.com I have struggled to find a custom PSU manufacturer that can handle a suitable design. Being frustrated with the direct approach, I thought I'd try a different path, and find a 9VAC or 5VDC single output power supply. I found a single output large amperage 5VDC supply, but then I got stumped on finding a way to synthesize a 9VAC isolated output from the 5VDC. A simplistic approach would involve creating a harsh +-9V square wave, but it needs to be at least .5A (to run the cassette deck on the 64/128), and I worry that the noise on a square wave @ 1A would wreck the audio and video noise level in the machine, which is not the best to start with. Even ignoring that, I need to double or quadruple the voltage to get the 18V rail to rail voltages I need. On the 9VAC front, I had little luck finding a suitable 9VAC supply that is 45VA or 63VA to support a 5VDC at 5A draw while leaving enough for the 5A 5VDC output. As well, I am not sure I am equipped to design a switching 5V PSU from a 9VAC source. With the old power bricks getting more brittle and prone to failure each day, I feel some sense of urgency to find some solution for folks. For liability reasons and because 5VDC is the more important voltage in the units, I myself lean towards a small box that turns 5VDC into 5VDC and 9VAC, but designing a voltage doubler/sine wave generator/isolation transformer solution is far beyond my comfort zone. If this is not a complicated task, I am wondering if someone on-list is up for a small freelancing effort to design such a unit. It needs to contend with the issues outlined in this PDF (http://www.ide64.org/power_des.pdf) in that the noted design won't work as is since I think people need to be free to use the power switch on their machine. There might not be a reasonable solution, but I thought I'd share in case I am missing an option. Jim -- Jim Brain brain at jbrain.com www.jbrain.com

12 years, 9 months

Next MO question

by ball.of.john＠gmail.com

I dismantled my MO drive years ago and photographed it. After you take it apart for the first time you learn that the top and bottom covers can pivot and the drive becomes more easier to work on. I have it all in my Photobucket Album (http://s11.photobucket.com/user/ballsandy/library/Computer%20related/NeXT%2 0MO?sort=3&page=1) I was /one of/ the first to notice the leaking caps. It stemmed from my drive spinning uncontrollably and was assumed that the caps on the motor control had gone. This was just before we began to realize that the reason that systems like the Macintosh Portable and the IIci weere dropping like flies was because the surface mount capacitors and reached a point in their life where they had begun to leak. We now know that just because one might of failed, they all probably have and they will do some REALLY weird things as they die. The small radials that are used on the motor control are present elsewhere on the drive as well. I have plenty of reason and speculation that these are what has caused the massive 99% failure rate of the MO drives and that a full replacement will bring back the drives. As Mr. Strickland said the SCSI bridge causes translation problems but other than that, the Canofile and the two OEM variants made by Mass Microsystems and some other company for the Mac market are otherwise identical.

12 years, 9 months

laser printers headed for recycle

by sales＠elecplus.com

DEC LNO3, qty 2 Genicom 7170 HPII HPIII HPIV HPVI Okidata 810 and similar Brother HL10h Various others Probably 3-4 pallets total. None tested recently, some may be missing parts, all will probably need new pickup rollers after sitting so long. Somebody make offer, or by Thurday these go to scrapper. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3345 / Virus Database: 3204/6450 - Release Date: 06/29/13

12 years, 9 months

Next MO question

by cclist＠sydex.com

Was the MO drive used on the NeXT cubes a standard 650MB unit, or was there something special about it? (e.g. sector size, encoding, format, etc.)? Anyone have an extra to spare? --Chuck

12 years, 9 months

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test-drb