From: Jason Howe <jason at smbfc.net>
>
> On Thu, 6 Jun 2013, Toby Thain wrote:
>
> > On 06/06/13 11:02 PM, Mouse wrote:
> >> FP is an important tool, both for the sake of the tasks it _is_ a good
> >> fit for and for the sake of the mind expansion learning it produces (in
> >> those who do manage to get their heads around it).
> >
> > It's simple to teach and use.
> >
> This is a joke, right?
>
> It really is a different way of thinking that's not easy for some folks to
> pick up. I'm interested to hear your your approach which makes
> functional programming simple and easy.
>
It's not completely a joke. I live in that world these days.
We've definitely found that folks whose foundation is in procedural
languages (or assembly, and I count myself solidly in that crowd) have much
more difficulty wrapping our brains around FP paradigms. Not all of
them...some folks are just naturals and pick it right up, but it involves
letting go of a lot of habits. The insult when I was coming up was "nice,
you can write Fortran in C (or Pascal)". Now it's "nice, you can write C
in Scheme/Python/Ruby" (and, no, I'm not interested in going down the
rabbithole of whether you think Python and Ruby are FP "enough").
However, for folks coming to it fresh(er), and in particular from other
disciplines (mathematics, biology, social sciences, etc.) they don't seem
to have nearly as hard a time dealing with the abstractions FP brings to
problem solving. For these folks, the higher level abstractions map more
closely to how they're looking to solve problems, and they're getting
remarkable, world impacting results (See: bioinformatics and python).
Things I perhaps could, but would not want, to try and solve in C. But I
wouldn't want them to write an OS.
So....not just right tool for right job, but right mind/approach/adaption
for right job.
KJ
Good news, after dremeling the Dallase RTC and performing minor surgery
to add an external coin cell battery, the 286/SLT is not complaining at
me on boot.
Double bonus, the 21.4MB HDD looks to be operational and boots to DOS
Triple bonus, the diag disk I made works, and cleaned up all of the
errors from not having a battery for so long.
Quadruple bonus, I've temporarily connected a 40GB 2.5" drive, fdisked
(to 528MB), formatted, and booted off said drive (regular 3.5" drives
suck too much power and just overwhelmed the little PSU in the machine,
even newer 160GB eco-models.)
So, my questions:
Is there any value in keeping the larger drive in the unit? I would
like to install Windows 3.1, DOS, some utils, etc., and I don't know if
all that will spill out of 21MB or not.
If the larger drive is in the unit, what would be suggestions on
accessing the rest of the disk? I assume DOS will never see more than
528MB, since I had to tell the BIOS it was a COMPAQ drive type 42, which
is 528MB. I thought maybe Windows could see the rest of the space once
out of real mode, or maybe using the DOS from Win95 and formatting FAT32
might help. I remember there being drive extenders at some point, but I
never used one (thankfully, all of my machines understood LBA).
Thoughts appreciated. Permanently replacing the 21MB drive means doing
some soldering on the little funky power cable used in the unit, so I'd
rather not mess with it unless there is some value to the additional space.
Still, regardless, it lives, and research suggests the external KB
connector is XT, so I can use this to test an AT->XT converter project I
wanted to implement.
Jim
--
Jim Brain
brain at jbrain.comwww.jbrain.com
Hi! Thanks! Sorry for the many delays. I am very behind on projects and
appreciate your patience.
Here is the latest information on the free/open source SCSI to IDE and SD
converter.
Thanks to Wayne and other builders, the early prototype is working and can
emulate a Seagate ST125N 20MB SCSI-1 hard drive.
In theory, the S2I should be able to emulate almost any SCSI-1 device so
this is really just a "proof of concept" indicating it can and does work.
We are looking for additional builders to participate in the project to help
expand the capabilities of the S2I device.
Especially those with legacy SCSI-1 machines willing to build and test the
S2I board.
http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/page/62549548/S2I%20Firmware%20Statushttp://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder¶m=SCSI2IDE
There are five (5) of the bare S2I PCBs available.
The PCBs are gratis with the understanding the builder will build and test
the S2I prototype board.
Do you want a bare S2I PCB to build and test a prototype S2I?
If so please send me your shipping address.
Thanks and have a nice day!
Andrew Lynch
>
> From: Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org>
> Date: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:33:55 -0700
> Subject: Re: FORTH fans rejoice
> On 6/6/13 11:39 PM, Nigel Williams wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 6:51 AM, Jason T <silent700 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> New scans have been posted at our document archive of the Interactive
>>> Computer Systems OmniFORTH manuals, as well as those for its
>>> predecessor, fig-FORTH:
>>>
>>
>> Great work!
>>
>> are you or is anyone tracking down the seminal FORTH implementations
>> and creating a repository for preservation?
>>
>>
>>
> I'm not signing up for this, but CHM did just get a rather large donation
> of
> FORTH docs and a couple of the LSI FORTH boxes, to go along with about
> three
> boxes of docs that I bought at the last west coast VCF.
>
My introduction to Forth was being a member of the IEEE-1275 Open Firmware
committee. I was more than a little surprised at my first meeting when the
chairman, Mitch Bradley, started singing the Open Firmware
Song<http://www.openfirmware.org/ofwg/misc/ofwsong.au>
.
--
Michael Thompson
Hello, I'm Jesse at Cypress Tech, this is a quick intro...
Our company sells HP 1000, 3000, 9000, and Itanium series hardware. If
anyone out there is still supporting HP 1000 and needs a supplier of
parts, we can help. We have a large volume of HP 1000 parts and servers.
below is a link to a site that I set up to HP 1000 series hardware
hp1000 (.) us
Thank you
Jesse Dougherty
Cypress Technology Inc
jesse at cypress-tech (.) com
Hello.
I have an Aura, and I have to say that the display is very good, really
better if compared to
Kindle PW, or Kobo Glo. And another planet respect the older 800x600 panels.
The reader itself is very good for the price, it was a very good choice
I think.
An a good reason to take it amongs ereaders is the possibility to tweak
it very easily
(standard linux inside, removable internal microSD to avoid risk of
bricking it,
easy access to root filesystem, very well supported processor).
I'm waiting to see some good application to read PDFs (with row/column
mode and text reflow)
ported to it.
Andrea
MD Sisk and Associates 781.837.6198 michael.sisk at verizon.net
These guys have VGA to BNC, RCA to BNC, etc. Good people to deal with.
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: 2013.0.3343 / Virus Database: 3184/6390 - Release Date: 06/06/13
There's one of these sitting at work (in the UK, near Reading) awaiting
disposal.
I've no idea how much interest there would be in something like this. It
has an asset tag so I can't just take it, I may have to fill out some
paperwork. I already have one but if someone else wants one, let me know
in the next day or two (I think it's going out the door next week).
AFAIK it's been powered off on the a shelf for the last 5 years at
least. I've salvaged the HDD but
I'll put that back in if someone is prepared to take the system.
I suspect that it would be too heavy to ship (unless you have quite big
pockets), and I'm not sure where
I'd be able to find any sort of reasonable packaging.
Antonio
arcarlini at iee.org
Hi
I have six people interested in the cables. Two responded within 30
minutes.
The winner is Dave McGuire. I'll contact him as soon as I get some more
free time.
Thanks,
Joe Heck
Qty 50+ defective 5.25" drives, $2.50 plus shipping (1.2MB)
Qty 20+ defective 5.25" drives, $3.00 plus shipping (360K)
Qty 100+ defective 3.5" drives, $1 plus shipping (no 720K only, all are
1.44MB)
Qty 20+ defective dual 5.25" and 3.5" floppy drives, 1.2 and 1.44MB, $3.50
plus shipping
Problems range from won't read, won't format, won't eject properly, etc.
May be missing bezels. Count on them not being cleaned up!
The problems may be as simple as the drives are older than the equip we
currently have to test them on, so there may be a mis-match in
compatibility.
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: 2013.0.3343 / Virus Database: 3184/6390 - Release Date: 06/06/13
On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 9:42 PM, ben <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:
> On 6/4/2013 5:36 PM, Liam Proven wrote:
>> Mind-expanding stuff, isn't it?
>
> No. Ebook readers need to be 8x10. Then I could say Mind Expanding.
> I could read my PDF's rather than carry around walls of books.
Agreed. I am using a 7" e-paper reader for books, but it doesn't
quite have enough dots to handle legibly displaying full-sized
magazine scans. My requirements aren't onerous - I should
be able to view a 2Kx3K image without zoom-in magnification
tricks on something I can fit in my coat pocket. I would also
like it to cost under $100. WiFi not required, touch screen
not required, _color_ not required.
I like the e-paper and I really like days between charging the
device. I would just like a few more dots to display small text
legibly.
On the other end of the scale, I'd love an e-paper screen for
C-sized (11"x17") drawings I could prop up and refer to while
I was repairing DEC equipment. Even if it had a max resolution
of 150dpi (though 300dpi would be ideal), it would be useful.
-ethan
Hi!
Here is an update on available S-100 board PCBs! I've sent out many of the
PCBs and they are almost gone.
There are seventeen (17) of the S-100 IDE V2 reorder PCBs and one (1) S-100
LAVA PCB available.
http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/IDE%20Board/My%20IDE%20Card.htmhttp://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/Lava-10%20Board/LAVA-10%20Board
.htm
The S-100 PCBs cost the same as before ($20 each).? However due to
unforeseen extreme price increases in shipping by USPS I am forced to change
shipping costs.
Shipping in the US will be $3 for a single PCB and $2 for each additional
PCB.? Shipping internationally will be $10 for a single PCB and $3 for each
additional PCB.? This is for the bare basics USPS first class postage with
no tracking or insurance.? The builder assumes all risk of delivery as per
usual arrangement.
I apologize for the large price increase on shipping but this is out of my
hands.? The USPS is in dire financial trouble and is raising prices on
shipping.? It affects us all and is most unfortunate.? These boards are
provided "at cost" so there is no margin to absorb any shipping price
increases.? I have to pass them along.
If you would like one or more S-100 PCBs please send a PayPal to
LYNCHAJ at YAHOO.COM
Thanks and have a nice day!
Andrew Lynch
On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 9:46 PM, Evan Koblentz <evan at snarc.net> wrote:
> Someone contacted me about stuff for sale/rescue in Las Vegas...
>
>>> DecMate II with CP/M board....
I was just reading about this product last night in the manual for
installing an XPU into the DECmate. The XPU has both a Z-80 and an
8086.
I have the DECmate, I have the XPU and manual and test disk. What I
don't have is any CP/M or DOS disks for it. I can write RX50s and
have pre-formatted blanks. Is there anywhere I can go to get disk
images for DECmate CP/M and/or DOS?
-ethan
I have a total of 8 BC08 cables, and two SYKES cables. I'm cleaning
out. Anybody want them for the postage?
Two sets of BC08 cables made up as follows:
3 cables, BMB, BAC and AC1 labels, flipchip external bus cable connector
Separate cables:
2 cables, labeled CONN1 and CONN2, also with a 4 and a 5 on them.
Two other cables, markings of:
SYKES 1005B0154 (on the paddle board)
SYKES 1005A0155A (on the cable)
one of them also has a label of M1621 IOX2 cable
Can anyone point me to copies (online scanned documents would be fine) of
the DEC Systems and Options Catalog pre 1980? Bitsavers has one from 1983,
but I need something earlier. Price lists would be OK too - I'm not exactly
sure when DEC started publishing the SOC.
Thanks,
Bob Armstrong
Lars & Diane:
Thank you for the heads up on a.out vs ELF. The executable created by
the original port still runs so there is still some support at that
point so I'll go see what I can find in the system headers and perhaps
I can figure out what I need to do that way.
Toby:
The reason to use 1.6.2 (or earlier had I been able to) was to get to
an earlier version of GCC. 2.95 plays much more nicely with old code
(-traditional actually works) unlike newer versions of it. I keep
hoping that the various alternatives will catch up but for now it's
still GCC.
But you're right, I do need to see if I still have a copy of K&R "C"
in the basement as it might help jog my memory. Thank you.
William
--
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
Alex White
>> Yeah, good idea. I hesitate to mention my Dell Optiplex 760
> that's going on over 500 days... Running Linux
> That's nothing. This *thread* will probably still be running by the time
> you retire that system, with no increase in usefulness since it first
> started.
Alexandre Liked It!
I have been having problems with the printer named in the subject line. It was working fine the other day and stopped halfway through printing something. I changed the ink cartridge, but it still doesn't work. It just beeps a few times after being switched on, with the0green light flashing. Any ideas?
I have one of these that needs a new home. These work like a
plain scanner through a PC or can print directly to a Printer. Has
SCSI and Parallel ports. Does need a new lamp. Standard
projector lamp.
Local pick up only
Info here.
http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/office/micrographics/ms_400_500/micro…
- Jerry
Jerry Wright
g-wright at att.net
I got this stuff at an auction for 12 euro. It's an Z80 based measuring
device and a depth sounder transducer. You can see the pictures here:
Although the Z80 based device is on-topic, I am particularly interrested
to find out how to use the depth sounder. It has only 2 wires, so I
assume it is some sort of element that is both an actuator and a sensor?
Has anyone any info on this stuff?
The transducer is a lowrance electronics TTH 1192-8.
So in a fit of insanity, I have a VM running NetBSD 1.6.2 (the
earliest I can get to run for me under Virtual Box) that I'm trying to
build the old Franz Lisp (from the 4.2BSD days) on. There was a port
done by Jeff Dalton back in 1994 to i386 NetBSD .9 so there is a
working executable but to get the libraries up to date requires a
build. That is exposing a bunch of early '80's code that isn't working
too well. Stuff like:
lispval
Ndumplisp()
{
register struct exec *workp;
register lispval argptr, temp;
register char *fname;
extern int reborn;
struct exec work, old;
extern int dmpmode,usehole;
extern char etext[], *curhbeg;
int descrip, des2, ax,mode;
extern int holesize;
char tbuf[BUFSIZ];
long count, lseek();
pageseql();
pagsiz = Igtpgsz();
pagrnd = pagsiz - 1;
#ifdef __NetBSD__
{
/* Round the break up to a multiple of a page size */
int excess;
excess = (long)sbrk(0) & pagrnd;
if (excess > 0)
sbrk(pagsiz - excess);
}
#endif
/* dump mode is kept in decimal (which looks like octal in dmpmode)
and is changeable via (sstatus dumpmode n) where n is 413 or 410
base 10
*/
if(dmpmode == 413) mode = 0413;
else if(dmpmode == 407) mode = 0407;
else mode = 0410;
workp = &work;
workp->a_magic = mode;
(and so on for much longer)
Those structures aren't right & the workp-> pointers all give major
complaints in GCC (dereferencing pointer to incomplete type) and it
bombs out. My C is even rustier than I thought so it's driving me nuts
trying to remember what's wrong.
What I'm hoping is that someone can point me at is a good online
reference or tool to old K&R C that I can hopefully restore my
memories of what is going wrong in this and the other issues I'm sure
will pop up.
Thanks!
William
--
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
Alex White
From: Bert Thomas <bthomas at brothom.nl>
>
> Hi,
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/bertsfotos/8959539296/
>
> This is an "FMS-5/88" computer. It looks like a VME-bus type of card,
> but is completely Intel based with an 8088 and 8087.
>
> Does anyone know whether FMS is a similar to VME-bus? I had never heard
> of FMS before.
>
> It think its brand is "grossenbacher elektronik", a Swiss company I think.
>
> Regards,
> Bert
>
>
>
It looks too deep to be VME, at least standard VME. Perhaps deep enough to
be Multibus II or VXI, but the interface logic doesn't look right. In all
likelihood, though, it's their own thing. I've certainly made the mistake
of picking up some odd bit thinking it might be VME only to find it was
custom. DIN 41612 connectors got used in all sorts of things, particularly
where reliability was a concern.
KJ
> From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com>
>
> On 06/04/2013 02:01 PM, Ken Seefried wrote:
> > From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com>
> >> One would reasonably think so, but it generally doesn't work out that
> > way.
> > [rant deleted]
> >
> > I'm not sure what you are responding to with this, but it's certainly not
> > related to what I wrote.
>
> Actually it was.
>
Perhaps in the sense that you got to my note and hit 'reply', but a rant
about patching embedded systems, out-of-tree development and how everyone
in management is stupid doesn't strike me as a reply to NetBSD dropping
803886 support because no one stepped up to take on the task. If that's a
direct response, then all I can do is avoid eye contact, back slowly away
and repeat "there's still no one, before or after support was dropped, for
all the years that anyone could, who's taken on the job of keeping it in
the tree, and that's the only reason it doesn't exist". I'm sure you'll
find reason to dispute that, but I don't see taking the time to puzzle out
the entrails of your inevitable reply for actual meaning.
> > P.S. - While I get it's your standard dismissive
> > line,
>
> It certainly isn't; I'd not treat you in that manner. That's why I
> explained my point of view.
>
To be fair, you have a lot of standard dismissive lines: for Windows users,
for people who don't much care about what processor their tool works on,
for programmers who use a programming language you don't approve of, for
management and a cornucopia of other ones. It is hard to keep track, but
this is pretty clearly the one for people who you think don't understand
embedded systems. We've seen it a lot in this thread.
>
> > it's a bad assumption that I don't have extensive experience with
> > embedded systems and production operations.
>
> Likewise.
>
Well, given the frequency you feel the need to remind us, not like I could
miss it. And, admittedly, I've not trotted out my experience to bludgeon
anyone who disagrees with me. So, how could you possibly not lecture me
like a schoolboy. So...point taken.
KJ
Hi,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bertsfotos/8959539296/
This is an "FMS-5/88" computer. It looks like a VME-bus type of card,
but is completely Intel based with an 8088 and 8087.
Does anyone know whether FMS is a similar to VME-bus? I had never heard
of FMS before.
It think its brand is "grossenbacher elektronik", a Swiss company I think.
Regards,
Bert