test-drb

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101090 discussions

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

I'm trying to remember and locate a chatterbot program from the heyday of DOS. I think it was called "jabber". What made it particularly interesting is that you could feed three text files of stuff (like novels, scientific papers, etc) and then control the proportions of how much of each input file made it to the output. When all were set to zero, it would just emit "jabber" over and over. Google isn't particularly helpful in finding this. I'm getting false hits on the Jabber IM protocol and denial of service attacks. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

13 years, 7 months

Kaypro PC ? == Micro 1

by dflowers＠gmail.com

I don't know if anyone is still interested in this. I have a Kaypro Micro1 with monitor and keyboard. It has a 10 MB hard drive and runs on MS DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1. It has 2 3.5" floppy drives. I've never seen another one anyplace. Dave

13 years, 7 months

68k Mac diagnostics?

by fraveydank＠gmail.com

Hello all, I have a Quadra 700 which I've mentioned before which is in a poor state. I've finally gotten it to power on with a replaced power supply, but it dies with the chimes of death at various points before and after the boot chime; it never appears to initialize the video. I'm aware that the Q700 is quite reliant on the monitor sense pins, so I'm using an Apple 12" RGB monitor that I've verified working on an Apple IIgs. Since I can't see any video (there is no activity on any of the pins on the monitor port, not even sync pins), I'm wondering if there's another diagnostic tool that can be used aside from building something to hook into the '040 PDS and attach to a logic analyzer. I suppose it would be too much to hope that it can be made to spit something out on a serial port? The fact that the chimes come at different points in the process, and that it seems to change when I poke things on the board, leads me to believe it may be beyond help, but if there's something simple I can do to check it out, I'd be glad to. I've already tried swapping out for a known-good '040 and removed all the RAM (so it runs on internal RAM) to no avail. - Dave

13 years, 7 months

DOS era chatterbot nonsense-generator

by feldman.r＠comcast.net

>Message: 20 >Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:36:52 +0100 (BST) >From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > >I remember an article in Byte about soemthing a bit like this. The word >'Travesty' is coming to mind, but I am not sure why. But I thought that >only took one input file and amy a piece of 'similar' text from it. > >-tony Byte, V9 No12, November 1984. Also at http://www.scribd.com/doc/99613420/Travesty-in-Byte Bob

13 years, 7 months

Reading Floppies

by cool1＠thecoolbears.org

> > Is there anybody in the San Francisco Bay Area that could create images of > > three 5.25" floppies for me? I think that they are 720k with 256 byte > > sectors, but I'm not sure. In any case, I've not been able to read them so > > far. > > 1) Do you know what computer created them? > > 2) FM? MFM? GCR? (Sirius/Victor 9000?) > > 3) What have you triesd so far? > What messages do you get? > The difference between "General Failure" and "Sector Not Found" IS > significant. I believe that they were created on an OS-9 68000 (the Microware, not the Apple variety). I don't have the computer any more, just the floppies. I tried to image them. If they are what I expect them to be, then they would be 720k MFM. I've tried to read them with a 1.2M 5.25 drive, using fdutils, on a LINUX box, but I'm not sure that I've got my drive strapped to spin at the correct RPM. In any case, fdutils reports an error 40. I'm not sure that the hardware I'm using will even talk to a 720k floppy.

13 years, 7 months

NEC APC 8" computer

by concad＠wwt.net

Hello, Found an old post. We have one with all software but no user manual. Do you know if any exist on PDF? Regards, Jerry

13 years, 7 months

Why 'park' drive heads

by elson＠pico-systems.com

> From: Alexey Toptygin <alexeyt at freeshell.org> > So, what drives actually need to be 'parked'? My understanding was that if > you de-energize the spindle motor and the voice coil that positions the > heads and the same time, the heads will have plenty of time to retract and > lock before the platters slow down enough for the heads to land. Was it > only needed on drives that used stepper motors for head positioning? > Either way, in what technology generation and/or time frame did the > requirement go away? > Most drives today either have springs, aerodynamic forcers (wings) or extract energy from the spindle motor to send the heads to the park position. Still, landing the heads on the platters is a lot harder on them that lifting the heads like in the "old days". I've seen plenty of drives where the heads were WELDED to the platters by old head lube that had either degraded over time or spread from the landing zone to the rest of the platter. Not sure if they are still using that landing zone lube or not. Anyway, all drives that are supposed to be parked can be assumed to handle it autonomously when power is removed, for nearly the last 20 years. Jon

13 years, 7 months

DECwriter II LA36 being given away

by Gary＠realtimecomp.com

________________________________ From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org on behalf of Tony Duell Sent: Fri 9/7/2012 5:15 PM Subject: Re: DECwriter II LA36 being given away >> I'm looking for a couple of keys for mine, If you end up parting it out, c= >> ould I get the R and X keys from it? >I would rather a complete machine was not parted out, not even an LA36 :-) > >Somewhere I have a lot of LA36 bits. I probably have a keyboard PCBm adn >could remove keycaps if you cna't get them any other waye. Aren't they >the same as VT100 keycpas? The keyboard is much the same design. I agree, and would not wish him to part one out. However, if the alternative is that he's going to send it to the scrapper.... Also, I don't believe the key caps are the same as the VT-100. If you get a chance, and have a spare KBD assembly, I'd be interested! Gary

13 years, 7 months

DECWriter II LA36 being given away - Update

by corey＠electricware.com

The DECWriter II has been picked up. Thanks to all who replied. There were 5 replies which makes me glad I saved it from being thrown away. Thanks, Corey.

13 years, 7 months

Hard-drive diagnostic program

by Hollandia＠ccountry.net

Will someone name a program that will do "checkup" on a hard drive, that could warn of an impending failure? Thanks, Kurt

13 years, 7 months

cctalk delay?

by chrise＠pobox.com

Curious what causes a several day delay in mail getting out of classicmp.org? I typically see people's replies to postings other have made a day or more before I see the original posting. Postings about gear for sale or trade show up long after the gear is gone. What causes the bottleneck? How do some people see postings and are able to reply to them while some of us incur the delay? One example, Received: from huey.classiccmp.org (huey.classiccmp.org [209.145.140.19]) by azure.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 71DCC40A3E8; Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:59:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: from huey.classiccmp.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by huey.classiccmp.org (8.14.4/8.14.4) with ESMTP id q8ACxGmi065486; Mon, 10 Sep 2012 07:59:16 -0500 (CDT) (envelope-from cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org) Received: from billy.ezwind.net (host-209-145-140-29.ezwind.net [209.145.140.29] (may be forged)) by huey.classiccmp.org (8.14.4/8.14.4) with ESMTP id q88MpUSX042100 for <cctalk at classiccmp.org>; Sat, 8 Sep 2012 17:51:30 -0500 (CDT) (envelope-from mc68010 at gmail.com) Received: from mail-pz0-f51.google.com (mail-pz0-f51.google.com [209.85.210.51]) by billy.ezwind.net (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id q88MpNgW039919 for <cctalk at classiccmp.org>; Sat, 8 Sep 2012 17:51:29 -0500 (CDT) (envelope-from mc68010 at gmail.com) Received: by dajt11 with SMTP id t11so765659daj.38 for <cctalk at classiccmp.org>; Sat, 08 Sep 2012 15:51:23 -0700 (PDT) The mail was received at huey.classiccmp.org on Sat, 8 Sep 2012 17:51:30 -0500 (CDT) but then didn't move to the next step at huey until Mon, 10 Sep 2012 07:59:16 -0500 (CDT) Not intending to bash anyone or anything here-- just wanting to understand the issue. Chris -- Chris Elmquist

13 years, 7 months

Century Data Systems binders available

by p.gebhardt＠ymail.com

Hello everybody, did some cleaning this weekend and it turned out that I had some duplicates of CDS Trident Series disk drive binders. Contact me, if you're interested in them, I give them away. For pick-up or I can send them, if you pay the shipping costs. I'm located in Germany. documents list: 76200-202 : Models T200 & T300: Installation & Operation 76200-400?: Models T200 & T300: Field Parts Catalog 76205-005 Rev3?: Models T25, T50, T80 Field Parts Catalog 76203-101 Rev1: Model T2000B: Exerciser Technical Manual Model T80 :schematics & logic, book 1/2 Model T300 :complete schematics & logic (twice of this one are available) Please contact me off-list. Kind regards, Pierre ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pierre's collection of classic computers : http://classic-computing.dyndns.org/?

13 years, 7 months

DEC MS11-J (MOS memory) question

by lists＠loomcom.com

Here's a puzzler. One of the two memory boards from my PDP-11/35 is short four ICs. See: http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/ms11_j.jpg It looks like it was an 8KW board that was user-expanded to 16KW, and if I'm reading the switches correctly it was configured for starting address 000000. (The other 16KW board I have is configured to start at address 100000) Those four missing ICs seem weird, though. The other board is is fully populated. Were they just pulled before the PDP was trashed? Or is that a valid configuration? -Seth

13 years, 7 months

OT: Does anyone have the need for...

by rich.cini＠verizon.net

All -- I'm trying to clear unneeded gear from my shop and I have the following three somewhat modern pieces of server hardware available to a good home. I'm just tripping on them so they need to go. * Compaq ProLiant PL1600 5U rack server. Dual Pentium 3 with 6-drive integrated RAID (86gb). Boot hard drive is bad (9gb SCSI). With some spare parts/rack stuff. I used this as one of my first servers in my house before I shifted to NAS and micro-servers. Great machine until the boot hard drive bit the dust?ran Windows NT Server then Windows 2000 Server. * Snap Server N4100. Early NAS RAID. 1U rack size. 4-drive/750gb. Works fine but has inter-operability issues with XP/Vista/7 (due to change in SMB authentication protocol I remember reading). Missing front faceplate (may be in the shop somewhere). * Sony AIT-162 16-tape AIT2 library (16x50g uncompressed). 2U rack size. Comes with tapes/bar code labels. I have the software somewhere. Worked the last time I used it but when the server died I changed everything around. Because of the size/weight, it would be pickup only from Nassau County, LI (11791). If anyone's interested, please contact me off-list and we can arrange something. Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini Collector of Classic Computers Build Master and lead engineer, Altair32 Emulator http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

13 years, 7 months

Wanted: DEC PDP-8/A power transformer and backplane

by bobvines00＠gmail.com

In the 01 Sep 2012, cctalk Digest, Vol 109, Issue 1, Topic #2, Brenton Bryant wrote: "Recently I found an incomplete PDP-8/a and need the transformer and backplane to start working on it. If anyone has one or both then please let me know." What type of (incomplete) you PDP-8/A do you have? The power supply is different for the core vs. semiconductor memories and different backplanes used in these machines. There are three different power supplies available, depending on the backplane and the memory. The chassis you have should have a label telling what it is. The PDP-8/A uses the ?76? Power Supply AssembIy which includes: ?9192 Omnibus (10 module slots) G801? Power Supply Module (Semiconductor Memory) Power board Transformer AssembIy Line Set Operator's ????l The PDP-8?100, 8?400, 8?600, & 8?800 use the ?9?00 Chassis AssembIy which includes: ?9194 Omnibus (12 slots) G8016 Power Supply Module (Semiconductor ??????) OR G8018 Power Supply Module (Core ?emor?) Transformer AssembIy Line Set Operator's ????l The PDP-8?420, 8?620, & 8?820 use the ??8-? Expander Chassis AssembIy which includes: ?9195 Omnibus (20 slots) 2 G8018 Power Supply Modules (Core Memory) Transformer AssembIy Line Set Operator's ????l Power Distribution Assembly The above information is from the "PDP8A Minicomputer Handbook 1976-77." (http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp8/handbooks/MinicomputerHandbook_1976.p…) Paul Anderson *may* be able to provide what you need -- he had a PDP-8/A chassis available at the end of last year and it *may* have what you need (i.e., power supply & backplane). So, what (incomplete) model PDP-8/A do you have? Thanks, Bob

13 years, 7 months

DEC module handles stampings and revisions

by chd＠chdickman.com

Does anyone know how to interpret the letters stamped on the side of DEC module handles? I remember reading that these were FCO and/or Revision marks, but can't find the reference any more. -chuck

13 years, 7 months

DECwriter II LA36 being given away

by Gary＠realtimecomp.com

>From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org on behalf of Corey Anderson >Sent: Fri 9/7/2012 2:45 AM >If nobody is interested in the whole thing and wants parts only, I will consider >parting it out and shipping things at your expense. > >Contact me if interested and want pictures or more info. Corey, I'm looking for a couple of keys for mine, If you end up parting it out, could I get the R and X keys from it? Gary Gary at Realtimecomp.com

13 years, 7 months

Supposed eBay "PDP-8/S" listing...

by lbickley＠bickleywest.com

I contacted the seller of item #200814830163 "Vintage Computer Equipment / Pertec T6840-9-45 U2 / DEC PDP8/S Digital Equipment" and asked that since I didn't see a PDP8/S in any of the pictures if one was included in the auction (per the description). Here is the seller's reply: "This auction is not for the PDP8/S (no PDP8/S included), but this is part of the PDP8/S equipment. Comparable Example: 1997 Ford Explorer / O2 Sensor / Oxygen Sensor Thanks for your interest, and good luck with your bidding!" It is highly unlikely (impossible?) that a slow PDP-8/S would have peripherals as such as two RK05's and a PERTEC 6840. Sigh.. Cheers, Lyle -- Bickley Consulting West Inc. http://bickleywest.com "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

13 years, 7 months

DECwriter II LA36 being given away

by corey＠electricware.com

I recently rescued a DECwriter II (LA36) that needs a good home. I personally never used it, I merely saved it from being sent to landfill. It does have some yellowing to it, but other than dust and spider webs, appears to be in good shape. It has all its keys and the tractor feed and the carriage all move. I have not tried to plug it in. I collect Teletypes so I just couldn't stand the thought of this being tossed, thinking that someone out there would probably want it. If interested, it's yours. Otherwise it's going to be summarily recycled. I am not really interested in trying to ship it since I'd have no idea how to. I'd be willing to drive a little to help it find a home, but not more than 50 miles. I live in the Portland, Oregon area. If nobody is interested in the whole thing and wants parts only, I will consider parting it out and shipping things at your expense. Contact me if interested and want pictures or more info. Thanks, Corey.

13 years, 7 months

Kaypro PC ? == Micro 1

by feldman.r＠comcast.net

>Message: 25 >Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2012 11:55:13 +0100 >From: Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> > >On 7 September 2012 08:38, Jason T <silent700 at gmail.com> wrote: >> Interesting - that was an 8086 machine IIRC. Or am I forgetting that >> an XT could run Win 3.1? > >I am trying to remember if there was a magic incantation to get it to >start if you had an NEC V30 chip or something, but I am not at all >sure. I suspect that for an actual Intel 8086, Windows 3.0 was the >latest - and you still couldn't run in VGA mode. (You only got VGA if >you had an NEC V30; the VGA driver used 286 instructions.) > You are limited to Windows 3.0 or lower on a 8088, 8086 or 80186. Windows 3.1 dropped Real Mode support, so it needs an 80286 or better. I have run Windows 3.0 on a Poqet (8088) and HPLX 200 (80186) using the CGA drivers. Bob

13 years, 7 months

booting RSTS-11

by bqt＠update.uu.se

On 2012-09-06 08:48, B M<iamvirtual at gmail.com> wrote: > > I managed to get RSTS-11 (circa 1974) installed on an RK05 drive for my > PDP-11/10. The M873-YA bootstrap loader does not seem to be able to boot > the disk. > > I can boot the drive via a manual bootstrap routine. > > I saw on a site that some bootloaders will refuse to boot a drive unless > the first byte is 240(8). On RSTS-11, the first byte is 300(8). > > Any ideas why the bootstrap card is picky? That's a way to try and protect you from booting random garbage. On some newer PDP-11s you can disable that check if you want to. Johnny -- Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus || on a psychedelic trip email: bqt at softjar.se || Reading murder books pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

13 years, 7 months

Hard-drive diagnostic program

by Hollandia＠ccountry.net

Hi again, A program that I was sent long ago gave the following info for the drive I am thinking of: Read Hard Disk Parameters Copyright 1995, Sydex, Inc. All Rights Reserved. An AT controller was found For ESDI/IDE Drive 0: Cylinders 2358 Heads 16 Sectors/Track 63 Buffer Size 64K Total Sectors 2376864 Drive supports DMA Drive supports LBA Firmware Revision: 99C60LE7 Model Number: IBM-DPRA-21215 Serial Number: 1L47L4V2902 It is operated under DOS 5 and Windows 3.1. The drive does the same thing in Windows and in DOS. I don't know who has encountered the Commodore 1541 drive. Thise who have will recall the hammering noise it made at turn-on and also when it encountered a difficulty with a disk it was reading. The drive under consideration is, I think, doing the same thing. It periodically makes a noise that sounds like an impact. This noise is being encountered with increasing frequency; I wonder if the the drive is headed for a failure. I have other drives I can put in its place, if need be. I don't understand the reference to "popcorn"...what is the meaning here? Thanks, Kurt

13 years, 7 months

OLD Sony Trinitron Monitor Problems

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

I am still using a Sony Trinitron Multisacn E400 Monitor with a ten year old system. When I first boot the computer in the morning, the monitor manages to support normal boot operations (I use 1280 by 1024 as a standard pixel setting). But if another full screen window is used, the monitor will cut out in a manner I don't know how to describe - other than it stops all display. The simple solution is to power off, then on and I have been doing this for the past two months. I realize that with a ten year old (or perhaps older) monitor, it will eventually have to be replaced or repaired. The latter option is almost certainly NOT cost effective since I have neither the tools nor the knowledge to do the repair myself. I do have two questions: (a) Is there any possibility of either damage to the other components or even myself if I continue to use the monitor until it completely fails? (b) Is there any point in waiting 15 minutes (approximately) that the monitor seems to need to warm up completely to prevent the problem in the first place, i.e. will preventing the problem from happening by providing enough time for the monitor to completely warm up prolong the limited expected life of the monitor at this point? Any other comments would be appreciated, especially in respect of questions that I do not know to even ask. Jerome Fine

13 years, 7 months

IBM 3494 Tape Library

by wackyvorlon＠me.com

The university I attend, University of Windsor, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada has an IBM 3494 tape library they are planning to get rid of. I was wondering if anyone on this list would be interested, if it doesn't find a new home it'll be going to the electronics recyclers. The machine is very big, and is in working condition. It won't be coming with any tapes, the tapes that are in it right now will be destroyed. If you're interested, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the relevant people. -------- Paul Anderson -- VE3HOP

13 years, 7 months

booting RSTS-11

by iamvirtual＠gmail.com

I managed to get RSTS-11 (circa 1974) installed on an RK05 drive for my PDP-11/10. The M873-YA bootstrap loader does not seem to be able to boot the disk. I can boot the drive via a manual bootstrap routine. I saw on a site that some bootloaders will refuse to boot a drive unless the first byte is 240(8). On RSTS-11, the first byte is 300(8). Any ideas why the bootstrap card is picky? Thanks! --barrym

13 years, 7 months

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