test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by rlloken＠telus.net

So gentlemen, my Alphaserver 4100 shut itself down with a sad announcement about a dead CPU fan. I have a parts mule which has donated a CPU fan a couple years ago and I can take the second and last CPU fan from there but then I have no more fans. Can the CPU fan be obtained? Can they be rebuilt? The 4100 has a series of fans between the 3 power supply slots and the main backplane which I found could not be easily obtained so I tore them all apart and replaced the bearings with good results but I suspect that the lttle CPU fans will not respond so well to attempts at repair. -- Richard Loken VE6BSV : "...underneath those tuques we wear, Athabasca, Alberta Canada : our heads are naked!" ** rlloken at telus.net ** : - Arthur Black

5 years, 10 months

Ever seen a Cromemco Cyclops in the wild?

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

I think a Stanford AI lab has one in a display case. Any others out there? It was supposedly "commercial" but I don't even remember ever seeing an ad for the Cyclops from Cromemco and I had a really good stash of Cromemco literature and hardware. I do remember the BYTE article where you pop the top off of a DRAM chip to make a Camera but that was 1983-ish, nearly a decade after the Cromemco Cyclops was supposedly "commercial". In the discussions I had in the 80's none of us seemed to know about the Cromemco Cyclops having preceded it. Tim N3QE

5 years, 10 months

Kennett Classic Open / Looking for a Linux/scripting programmer $$

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

The Kennett Classic Gallery of Computing history and shop has re-opened per State of PA and County of Chester guidelines. I am looking for volunteers to help with moving some large DEC racks into the basement area, we decided to expand exhibits to one more room to make space for the bigger iron, printers, VAX systems, etc. We are installing new exhibits this month and any help would be appreciated. I am also looking for a Linux scripting poss. Python programmer for a paid project through my web programming business (degnanco.com) if anyone here is interested in a project. Contact me privately. Kennett Classic 126 S Union St. Kennett Square, PA 19348 484 732 7041 kennettclassic.com -Bill Degnan-

5 years, 10 months

Old communications software

by sales＠elecplus.com

If any of you are looking for new in box Lantastic or Hayes Smartcom software, I have some for sale. https://elecshopper.com/Communications-Software-c47411005 Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 830-370-3239 cell sales at elecplus.com -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

5 years, 10 months

WTB: 64K S-100 board, Hard Sectored 5.25" floppies

by ethan＠757.org

Looking for a CompuPro RAM 16 or something similar that will work in an IMSAI 8080. Also looking for a few hard sectored (10 sector) 5.25" floppies Reply off list! Thanks! - Ethan O'Toole

5 years, 10 months

VAXstation 3100 power supply

by peter.hicks＠poggs.co.uk

Hello I have a couple of VAXstation 3100s - a M38 which boots but has no output on the console port, and another model which has corrosion on the motherboard and a PSU which doesn't power up correctly. The voltage on all of the M38 PSU's pins is OK except for pin 7 (brown) which is +3.5v to +5.25v DC and is floating at about 0.6v with reference to ground. I suspect this is why the console port doesn't work (and the LEDs on the read suggest a RAM problem so I can't tell which chip is faulty), so I've set about troubleshooting. Does anyone have any suggestions above and beyond replacing capacitors? Peter -- OpenTrainTimes Ltd. registered in?England and Wales, company no.? 09504022. Registered office: 13a?Davenant Road, Upper Holloway,?London N19 3NW

5 years, 10 months

Malfunctioning VT240 - help please

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

Until a few minutes ago, my VT240 was operating normally, but now it's unresponsive (fails during power-on self test). Normal behavior was: display a checkerboard, then two different intensity all-white bands growing slowly up from the bottom of the screen, then a beep and the expected "VT240 Monitor Error 9" (because I'm using an old B&W composite monitor instead of the DEC VR201 with special cable). Thereafter, normal operation. Now, it briefly displays the checkerboard (and all four keyboard lights turn on, then off); then the Lock and Wait lights come on and nothing else happens. Blank screen. Power-OK light on the back is illuminated and 5.19 volts measured on the board. Haven't checked +12 (or the internally derived keyboard +5) yet. Another possibly useful observation: I can press the Setup (or any other) key about four times and hear a keyclick sound each time. But then it stops playing the click sound if I keep pressing keys. This suggests that the interrupt on the CPU (a T11) is not being responded to. The technical manual is very detailed but does not describe the specifics of the POST, which could be useful in locating the failed circuit (or firmware). Can anyone with experience in debugging these terminals lend a hand? Should I even be looking at the main board, or the keyboard which also has an 8051 CPU?? thanks.

5 years, 10 months

Alfaskop terminals and SPL programming language.

by kurtwig11＠gmail.com

S?g ovanst?ende - har du n?gra fr?gor kontakta mig - jag gjorde kompilatorn f?r SPL. Mvh Kurt Svensson

5 years, 10 months

Seiko Epson Robotics Controller Boards

by jon＠jonworld.com

Hi everyone! My wife found some interesting VME-looking boards for sale on a surplus auction website. This is what we scored. Is there any interest for these here? 1x Main CPU SKP-220-3 4x Sub CPU SKP-221-3 (2 look good, one has a battery that exploded all over it, one labelled bad CMOS but had a bent pin.) 3x Servo SKP-222-3 1x IO Board SKP-184-2 I have no card cage, no documentation, and no way to test these. Some are labelled that they tested good in 2008. I'll happily supply pictures for those interested, but they're essentially 2U VME boards with MC68000 chips and the main CPU has an MC68HC000 CPU. They seem to fetch a fair sum on eBay, but just because they're listed at these prices doesn't mean that they actually sell at that price: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Epson-Accu-Sembler-Robot-Control-Sub-CPU-B… -- -Jon +44 7792 149029

5 years, 10 months

BYTE Magazines

by trash80＠internode.on.net

I know the response to this might be quite subjective and depends on your particular interests. Do BYTE magazines have any collectability (maybe even from a historical perspective or something else)? I have to make some decisions about space (the perennial problem for a collector of course) and I have quite a few of these taking up a few shelves. Thank you. Kevin Parker

5 years, 10 months

Compaq Proliant parts

by julf＠julf.com

Anyone in need of a Proliant 6000 / 7000 CPU board (unused), and hotswap hard disk cartridges? https://imgur.com/a/3h9VBmH Julf

5 years, 10 months

BYTE Magazines

by cctalk＠emailtoilet.com

Computer Museum of America might be interested. They have a Byte wall. http://www.myimagecollection.com/webpics/cmoabyte.jpg Contact Lonnie Mimms lonnie at mimms.com to see if he has any interest. Donald

5 years, 10 months

Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

by rich.cini＠verizon.net

You know, reading about this made me dig out the info I had on the Character Oriented Windows ("COW") library. I was reading some of the docs and it occurred to me that it operated much like Windows (probably Windows 1), but what I couldn't find were any "sample" programs or tools to build a program based on the COW library. Does anyone have/know of a sample program that used the library? Was there an SDK for it or was it used only for Microsoft's products? Just looking for something new/interesting to learn about. Thanks! Rich ?On 5/22/20, 11:35 AM, "cctalk on behalf of Chuck Guzis via cctalk" <cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org on behalf of cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: A quick look at the code indicates to me that the Intel translator CONV86 may well have done the translation in "strict" mode. Of course, there were other translators, but some of the stuff rings a bell. For example, the 8080 instruction INX B gets translated to SAHF INC BX LAHF all done because the 8080 16-bit instruction does not affect the zero and carry flags, but the 8086 instruction INC, does. So there's very likely a large amount (my experience was at least >30%) of cruft in the code. --Chuck

5 years, 10 months

BYTE Magazines

by rshepprd＠gmail.com

That photo is the perfect opportunity to mention the wonderful cover art by Robert Tinney. Richard Sent from Mail for Windows 10

5 years, 10 months

intellec MDS80 on eBay

by couryhouse＠aol.com

I assume this are not the standard Intel floppy drives???? On Sunday, May 31, 2020 Jan-Benedict Glaw via cctech <jbglaw at lug-owl.de; cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote: Hi! I just wanted to drop an email that there's a MDS 80 on eBay: ??? https://www.ebay.de/itm/333612000595 (Please note: The seller, Michael, is a friend of mine, and a former coworker.) Thanks, ? Jan-Benedict --

5 years, 10 months

The X-Cap-Files

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

Today I was working on a new-to-me VT240 which hadn't been powered up in a long time (possibly 10 years). Hooked it up to an old 9" B&W CCTV monitor and everything was running fine for 20 minutes or so - when suddenly an astonishing amount of acrid whitish-gray smoke started pouring from the vents =8^ O So I yanked the power cord out and took the case off. Sure enough, one if not both of the 0.1 uF X-caps on the line filter had cracked open and my nose confirmed that was the source of the stench. Fortunately there is no damage to the PC board or surrounding components - even the caps don't look toasted, just split. Good thing I was sitting right there when they failed and could turn the power off immediately. I've read here and elsewhere about the spectacular failure modes of these caps, sometimes flames, but this is the first time I ever experienced it first hand. Maybe it's time for a look inside my VT220? ;) -Charles

5 years, 10 months

AlphaMicro CPU Chip

by wmachacek1＠comcast.net

Hi, I've recently come across a CPU chip marked "AlphaMicro" . It has a date stamp of 8531 and appears to be of the 386 variety (1 5/8 x 1 5/8). It doesn't appear to be from Alpha MicroSystems. Anyone know who may be the maker of this chip? I can send a picture for those who'd like to see what it looks like.

5 years, 10 months

intellec MDS80 on eBay

by jbglaw＠lug-owl.de

Hi! I just wanted to drop an email that there's a MDS 80 on eBay: https://www.ebay.de/itm/333612000595 (Please note: The seller, Michael, is a friend of mine, and a former coworker.) Thanks, Jan-Benedict --

5 years, 10 months

ESDI terminator values

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

Working on restoring this 11/83, I would like to replace the Fujitsu 2284E drive with a slightly larger capacity CDC/Imprimis WREN VI 94246-383 ESDI. I think I have the jumper configurations, however the problem is the disk does not have a terminator pack. Does anyone know what kind of resistor pack was used for the CDC drives? It's probably something very basic and easy to find at Digikey but what? Thanks! Chris (working away here)

5 years, 10 months

Anyone know what an AM000076 (Dip 18) is?

by ian.finder＠gmail.com

Title says all, Backing up all the programmable parts in the Apollo DN100 and the CPU board has a few of these ceramic DIPs with the same Apollo P/N labels as the Am27S29 and similar programmable parts. Thanks

5 years, 10 months

DtCYBER and/or CYBIS Resources

by Kevin＠rawfeddogs.net

Classic Computer Fans, I tried out the CYBIS release: http://www.Control-Data.info/CybisRelease.html on the DtCYBER emulator when it first came out. I've since forgotten most of what I'd learned. Recently I fired CYBIS back up and started relearning. Does anyone know if any user mailing lists for the DtCYBER emulator and/or the CYBIS release? At the moment I'm trying to find a Linux friendly terminal type that works with NOS's FSE. -- Kevin http://www.RawFedDogs.net http://www.Lassie.xyz http://www.WacoAgilityGroup.org Bruceville, TX What's the definition of a legacy system? One that works! Errare humanum est, ignoscere caninum.

5 years, 10 months

Microsoft open sources GWBASIC

by cisin＠xenosoft.com

On Fri, 22 May 2020, Boris Gimbarzevsky wrote: > Thanks for posting the timeline of various Basic interpreters. I wasn't > aware that Gates/Allen also wrote Basic for C64. Microsoft did a BASIC for the Commodore PET. I wasn't aware that they did the C64. > Did download the 8080 Basic source code out of interest, but in early > 1980's had very little to do with IBM PC. PC was 8088, NOT 8080. BUT, an original 8080 source code can be run through some algorithmic translation to automagically patch it into something that is close enough to 8088. All of my knowledge of the following is third hand, and probably mostly WRONG. If you are lucky, maybe some of the folk here who actually KNOW this stuff will step in and give the right information. Sequence is only approximate. Well, we can start by considering the 4004. 1971. It was not the "FIRST" microprocessor, although the later chips based on it dominated the market. 4 bit data bus. It was designed to be able to make a whole range of Busicom calculators that could be essentially the same hardware, and changing ROM, or moving a jumper from cheapest model to most expensive model would void the warranty. Then came the 8008, with EIGHT bit data bus, and 14 bit address bus (16K of RAM) Then came the 8080, with 8 bit data bus and 16 bit address bus (64K of RAM) That brought about a giant surge in hobbyists trying to build computers, including the MITS Altair, etc. It is important to note that each Intel chip consisted of "minor" modifications to the previous one. That made it easier to modify a design or software from one to the next one. Minor patches tended to be all that was needed. THAT is important. 'course it means that some aspects are really weird due to being patched on top of patched, on top of patched, instead of redesigned. MEANWHILE, other companies started trying to get into the game. Motorola came out with the 6800, which was pretty cool. But, they were taking a long time to get around to the next ones, so a group of engineers left and started MOS Technology, and came out with the 6500. Motorola's lawyers were not amused. So, the engineers redesigned an all new, "non-infringing" one called the 6502. Motorola eventually got around to trying to design "the best 8 bit microprocessor", and came out with the 6809. They had designed from scratch, to try to make it the best, so it had so much different, that previous machines could not be easily modified for it, and had to be redesigned for it, and software needed to be re-written, not just patched. They had difficulty finding any takers, in spite of obvious design superiority, because most manufaturers were already established with other chips. BUT, Radio Shack built a machine called "the Radio Shack Color Computer" around a Motorola application note. Radio shack didn't want it competing with their other products, and didn't see any reason to include capabilities, so they had horrible constraints, such as chiclet keyboard, unexpandable RF video, cartridge slot instead of expansion bus, etc. A lot of the early machines were intel 8080, which had 8 bit data bus and 16 bit address bus, which meant maximum of 64K of RAM, although it was not very hard to cheat for 128K. Gary Kildall needed an OS for managing his source code on 8 inch disks that he added to his computer. He wrote "Control Program and Monitor", which later became "Control Program for Microcomputers" ("CP/M"). He tried to get Intel to market it, but they didn't think that there would ever be enough market to sell an operating system for a microcomputer. So, he started "Intergalactic Digital Research" Later, when the hobbyists grew up and lost their sense of humor, "Thinker Toys" became "Morrow designs". (they had been having some trademark issues) "Kentucky Fried Computer" became "Northstar" (they had been having some trademark issues) and "Intergalactic Digital Research" bcame "Digital Research Incorporated" Then Zilog came out with the Z80, which had major enhancements. BUT, code using those enhancements would not run on an 8080, so CP/M remained 8080, and many/most? programmers stuck with 8080 for marketable code. Intel came out with the 8085, which had DIFFERENT [incompatible] enhancements, so many/most? continued to stick with 8080 code. I think that the Radio Shack model 100 is 8085. A hobbyist named Steve Wozniak wanted to build a Z80 computer. But it was going to cost too much. At Wescon (trade show), he got a fantastic deal on some 6502 chips. Not what he had been wanting, but he could make it work, and he could afford them! He hooked up with Steve Jobs, who had some marketing ideas. They sold a bunch of "blue boxes", kited some checks, sold Jobs' VW bus and Woz's calculator, and put together a batch of kits. ($666.66; they later said that they had not realized the theological implications of the price) And, hence, we got "Apple Computer". Later, Apple Music (Beatles) talked to them about the name. Apple Music agreed to not get into computers, and Apple Computers agreed to not get into music. Hmmm. Atari and Commodore both ended up also using the 6502. Motorola Then Intel decided to build a "16 bit processor". The 8086 has a 16 bit data bus and a 20 bit address bus, for a maximum of 1M or RAM When the IBM PC wasbeing planned, there was a lot of difference in cost between 8 bit and 16 bit support chips. The 8088 was ALMOST the same as an 8086, but with an 8 bit data bus, which significantly reduced costs! From an engineering perspective, the 8088 is an 8 bit version of the 16 bit 8086. >From a MARKETING perspective, it's 16 bit, or maybe 32 bit, or maybe 64 bit, etc. If a 4 bit machine has a 128 bit Smell-o-vision port, marketing will call the machine "128 bit" The IBM PC was an 8088. IBM went to Microsoft to get BASIC for it. Bill gates put on a suit and met with them. The "Pirates Of The Valley" story of Microsoft cold-calling IBM to sell an operating system PINS THE NEEDLE ON THE BOGUSIMETER. The author of that fiction needs a hot soldering iron shoved 8 inches up his nose. Microsoft was happy to oblige on BASIC. One of the IBM engineers had an Apple2 with a Microsoft "Softcard" (Z80) to run CP/M. So, IBM asked Microsoft to also supply "the CP/M". Bill Gates explained that that was Digital Research. So, IBM went to Digital Research in Pacific grove to get "the CP/M". There was some "culture clash". IBM showed up in blue suits. There is an unconfirmed report that somebody at DR thought that it was a drug raid. I have looked out that upstairs window, and can imagine it. The IBM suits encountered barefoot workers in shorts and not all wearing shirts (both sexes?) female workers without bras. cats and a dog. plants. Surfboards and bicycles in every room. Gary Kildall wasn't even THERE! He had gone to fly his plane up to Oakland to visit Bill Godbout. Official story is that that was an essential errand to deliver some documentation (and no lower employee could have put some shoes on and driven up?). His wife was there, and he had told her, "They're just coming to sign a license agreement. Let them wait in the living room with the rest of the customers." IBM was not amused. IBM went back to Microsoft. I heard that Bill Gates told his people that anybody without a suit should stay home for the day. IBM said that they wante Microsoft to provide the OS. Bill Gates said, "we do BASIC. We don't do operating systems." IBM said that they intended to get the BASIC and the OS from ONE source. Bill Gates said, "Let me tell you about our new OS department!" Then Bill Gates went down the street to Seattle Computer Products and bought 86-DOS/QDOS ("Quick and Dirty OS"), including hardware to run it on, and the contract of Tim Paterson who wrote it. Microsoft had a new OS department. Motorola STARTED work on "The best 16 bit processor". Rather than patching something earlier, and being stuck with legacy oddities, they designed from scratch. So, it took longer. Motorola eventually came out with the 68000, which was the best 16 bit processor. (or 32 bit or 64 bit if you are in marketing) The Apple3 was a major financial setback. Much more money, for very little more. Apple started on a total redesign. It is rumored that for the Lisa, they explicitly avoided anybody with prior experience to avoid repeating previous bad ideas. 'course hiring brilliant folk straight out of college meant that nobody had the prior experience to know the consequences of building a machine for which software could NOT just be patched from previous versions. The Lisa was magnificant! and in a price range (>$20K?) where sales were to overpaid exectuvies wanting to impress other overpaid executives. It actually came close to putting Apple on the rocks. And, it was an ALL-NEW (and improved) machine. Old software couldn't just be patched, it had to be re-written. The brilliant recovery plan was to take the Lisa design and cut every corner that could be cut, to make a machine that could be sold for $500. Once they did, they found that they could still get away with selling it for $2K. it was mandated that the resulting machine would come with four significant pieces of software. By the time it was ready, those had become Mac-Write, Mac-Paint, Mac-Write, and Mac-Paint. But that was enough. The marketing people were smart enough to change the grumbling about building a computer for ignorant masses into "a computer for the rest of US" Later, Commodore (Amiga) and Atari (ST) used the 68000. There are some amazing stories (that i don't know) about that "technology swap" Intel came out with the 80286, 16 bit data bus with 24 bit address bus. with fewer limitations. But still a few significant ones, such as how to switch in and out of "protected mode". "It's like having to turn your engine off to switch gears on the freeway". Bill Gates called the 80286, "Brain dead." In "real mode", which would be limited to 20 bits of address, it is easy to cheat and enable A20, which permits 64K past the 1M boundary. THAT is required for Windoze 3.10 Then came the 80386, which could sorta be called a 32 bit processor. And the 80386-SX, which analogous to the 8088, was a 16 bit version of the 32 bit 30386, permitting building a software compatible machine using cheap 80286 support chips. 80486, which is kinda like a 80386 plus 80387 math chip, and the 80486SX, with is 80486 without the math processor. and Pentium. Intel had been finding out the hard way that it was difficult to maintain trademark of a number (Oldsmobile "442" notwithstanding) Other manufacturers would make a 80386 like chip and call it a 486, or an 80486 like chip and call it a 586, etc. So, they had a naming session. And the other entries were even worse than "Pentium". I'm surprised that that didn't backfire horribly! Consider: In about 1965, Honeywell bought Pentax from Asahi. Honeywell could totally legitimately have come out with a processor (joint venture with AMD/Cyrix/etc.?) and called it the "Pentaxium". Intel wouldn't even be able to object. Yeah, there have been more since then, but new stuff isn't interesting for another ten or twenty years. OR MORE for some of the boring current stuff. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com > As was working with PDP-11's at that time, really disliked 8080 instruction > set and got a C64 instead which was considerably cheaper than IBM PC and much > easier to write assembly code for. C64 basic is fairly ugly but bought a > 6502 assembler and just used Basic to display stuff on screen and call my > work was done in assembly language code. Had no trouble sampling switch data > at 1 KHz using my "toy" computer. A couple of guys from UBC Physiology > decided to build a programmable stimulator based on C64 which they were > trying to sell for $2K, considerably less than the ~$10 K that the dedicated > device that was commonly used then. Even though their timing specifications > matched the expensive device, a lot of researchers back then didn't want a > "toy" to be part of their lab setup so sales were few. > > Recently found a movie Pirates of Silicon Valley which had some of early > Microsoft history and, if depictions of individuals are true to reality, > explains why I far preferred Mac in comparison to ugly early windows. It > also helped that 68000 was a very easy processor to migrate to after 8 years > doing assembler/FORTRAN programming on a PDP-11. Couldn't believe it when I > had a full 512 Kb of RAM to play in.

5 years, 10 months

history is hard

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jon Elson > As far as I know, there was no VM/360. There WAS VM/370, which was out > in the early 1970's CP/67, which was a semi-product, and ran only on 360/67's, was basically the same functionality as VM/370. (I get the impression that the code was descended from CP/67, but I can't absolutely confirm that - although see Varian, below.) It was used by many customers who had purchased 360/67's. The 370/67's instruction set didn't need to be tweaked at all to run a virtualization (although it had added hardware to do virtual memory, which CP/67 needed); the '360 Principles of Operation' was defined in such a way that it could be virtualized. (Unlike, say, the PDP-11, where a RESET instruction in User mode is a NOP, and does not trap). All that's needed is the virtual memory hardware, because otherwise the real addresses of the underlying machine have to be exposed to the virtual machines. CP/67 was preceded by two earlier iterations: CP/40, which ran on a special 360/40 which has been hacked to have paging hardware added; it was likewise almost identical to CP/67 (a hacked version of CP/40, with the memory management of the 370/67 substituted for the special 360/40's, was booted on a 360/67). An older system, M44, which was similar in functionality (although not a perfect virtualization of the underlying machine), it ran on a modified 7044. One version of CP/67 provided a /370 virtual machine; it was used extensively by the MVS development team. CP/67 was also brought up on /370 hardware. Full details in "VM and the VM Community: Past, Present and Future", by Melinda Varian. Noel

5 years, 10 months

is nexgen cpu and motherboard scarce or rare item? Ed#

by couryhouse＠aol.com

is nexgen cpu and motherboard scarce or rare item? Ed#

5 years, 10 months

intellec MDS80 on eBay

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Still looking for the matching? paper tape reader and punch.? For one of these...Ed# On Sunday, May 31, 2020 Jan-Benedict Glaw via cctech <jbglaw at lug-owl.de; cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote: Hi! I just wanted to drop an email that there's a MDS 80 on eBay: ??? https://www.ebay.de/itm/333612000595 (Please note: The seller, Michael, is a friend of mine, and a former coworker.) Thanks, ? Jan-Benedict --

5 years, 10 months

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test-drb