test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by jaquinn2001＠gmail.com

I have been given a PDP 11/04 (at least that is what the front panel says and it does have an M7263 CPU board) to look after for a few years while the owner is away working and am quite keen to try getting it operational. I have no idea when it was last run so will be going through the full capacitor reforming process/etc. I am not a DEC expert (they are not really common down here in New Zealand) so am relying on a lot of the info on the net. Everything I have read suggests that 11/04's are in a BA11-L chassis with an H777 power supply ( http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/retrocomputing/dec/pdp11/chassis.html). This unit is in a BA11-K chassis with an H765 supply. Is this normal or is it possible that the machine has been repackaged at some point in it's life? Regards Andrew

13 years, 11 months

PDP-11/35 power supply woes

by barryc＠rjlsystems.com

Eric Smith wrote: > What leads people to believe that the original PDP-11/35 power supply (H742 or H7420) or the PDP-11/44 power supply (H7140) aren't switching supplies? Personally, I was assuming that the people who posted before I did knew what they were talking about when they said the power supply was linear instead of switching. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

13 years, 11 months

PDP-11/35 power supply woes

by barryc＠rjlsystems.com

Look on the bright side - there's no plywood or MDF. I once picked up an arcade cabinet from a guy without realizing that a mischief of mice had made it their home while it was in long-term storage. As gross as I'm sure that power supply was when you first opened it up.... You may think you can clean years of mouse urine out of MDF.... and I'm willing to grant the possibility that it may actually be theoretically possible. but I eventually had to give up and put the cabinet at the curb. ------------------------------ Message: 28 Date: Mon, 14 May 2012 00:01:34 -0700 From: Seth Morabito<lists at loomcom.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: PDP-11/35 power supply woes Message-ID:<9B95838A-9A34-4296-A18D-5107E43D9A99 at loomcom.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Ugh. It was a fairly disappointing day on the PDP-11/35 restoration front. I've updated my restoration journal (http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/index.html ), but in summary, my H750 power supply is one big gross mess. Take a look at the condition it was in: http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/bc05t_rust.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/h750_out.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/h744_messy.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/h744_corrosion.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/xformer_mice.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/rusted_parts.jpg All that pink stuff is fiberglass insulation. Mice got into the power supply, and made it a nest and toilet. Everything is soiled, and lots of exposed metal is corroded. I'm feeling kind of low about this. I do believe this is restorable, but the amount of time it's going to take is bumming me out. I'll have to disassemble everything, right down to the last screw, and clean anything that's cleanable, strip rust off of anything strippable, and test all the parts individually. The fan will probably need to be replaced. Plus, it's just yucky, y'know? At least I've cleaned out the mouse nests. That's a start, I guess. -Seth -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

13 years, 11 months

TC01 DECtape Formatter Documentation Needed

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

Does anyone have the documentation to go with the DEC-08-EUFB-PB TC01-TU55 DECTAPE FORMATTER? -- Michael Thompson

13 years, 11 months

Tek tube

by djg＠pdp8online.com

>Is the tube in the 4010 a number 154-0624-11? > My manual says it is a 154-0662-10 B010100 to B059999 154-0740-00 B060000 up Page 3 http://www.pdp8online.com/ftp/misc/4010/sect5.pdf

13 years, 11 months

passing of Chuck Moore

by feldman.r＠comcast.net

>From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> >Subject: Re: passing of Chuck Moore > ?>?Ugh. ?I'm sorry to hear it Paul. :-( > >?? ? ? ? ? ? -Dave > >-- >Dave McGuire, AK4HZ >New Kensington, PA > > >On May 12, 2012, at 2:39 PM, Paul Anderson <useddec at gmail.com> wrote: >> Sorry for your loss. Most of my health problems are more quality of >> life rather than life threatening. But I do have someone very dear to >> me that has been on a paticulal clinical trial longer than anyone in >> the US. They think she might have reached the point of toxicity and >> might give her one more treatment. We are running out of options. You >> just never know. >> >> Take Care, Paul >> >> On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 12:11 PM, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote: >>> On 05/11/2012 11:35 AM, Adrian Stoness wrote: >>>> sometimes people have no idea they have it feel sick go see a doc and days >>>> later their dead lost a few family friends this way and nieghbors :'( >>> >>> ?Ironically, I lost a relative two days ago due to exactly this >>> problem. ?She was undergoing physical therapy due to a broken hip, and >>> had a lot of pain...they thought it was just from the hip, so no tests >>> were done. ?It wasn't just from the hip. ?Less than a week later she was >>> gone. >>> >>> ? ? ? ? ? ? -Dave >>> >>> -- >>> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ >>> New Kensington, PA > Sometimes comics can provide some real insight: http://xkcd.com/931/ Th e fiance' of Randall Munroe, the creator of XKCD, developed breast cancer and they have been going through treatment together.

13 years, 11 months

Some Markup!

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I had intended to bid on this item but for reasons I forget now I missed it: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130688145175 Now look!: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320906207718&ssPage Name=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123 This person also has what admittedly looks like a very nice DEC Pro 350 for ?2499: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIGITAL-DEC-Professional-PC350-D2-Computer-Vintage -Computer-/320906092437?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item4ab77e5f95 Which the person previously listed before for a mere ?1499. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIGITAL-DEC-Professional-PC350-D2-Computer-Vintage -Computer-/320897191428?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item4ab6f68e04 >From the feedback clearly a reputable seller, but I wonder what the market for these items will say about the asking price Regards Rob

13 years, 11 months

DigiDesign DSP cards

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 12:00 -0500 5/13/12, David wrote: >I recently acquired a PowerMac 9600/233 with a bunch of DigiDesign >DSP Farm cards in it. I have no intention of using this machine >for Pro Tools, but I can think of a few fun things to do with some >PCI cards full of DSP56k chips. Oh my! http://www.distributed.net/Main_Page As far as I know, there is no DSP56k client, but there are CUDA and STREAM clients so in principle it should be possible. I hope to one day have time and expertise to update the NeXT client to use the NeXT DSP56k, just because it's about the last practical compute effort my NeXT can contribute to and the DSP56k would probably about double its keyrate. Your PowerMac would be way more powerful. -- - 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.

13 years, 11 months

S-100 IDE V2 board PCBs

by LYNCHAJ＠YAHOO.COM

Hi I reordered the S-100 IDE V2 board PCBs due to numerous requests. There are some extras available so if you would like one or more PCBs please let me know. The S-100 IDE V2 board PCBs are $20 each plus $3 shipping in the US and $6 elsewhere. These PCBs are probably our most popular board and are going quickly. Please send a PayPal to LYNCHAJ at YAHOO.COM including your shipping address. Links for more information below http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/IDE%20Board/My%20IDE%20Card.htm http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=S-100%20IDE Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch

13 years, 11 months

Tek 856x floppy images

by aek＠bitsavers.org

The machines arrived from San Diego this week, and the disks were readable. http://bitsavers.org/bits/Tektronix/856x

13 years, 11 months

For shipping: dead Apple Powerbook AC adaptors and battery charger

by mtapley＠swri.edu

All, disposing of 3 dead Apple AC adaptors. Would love to fix them, but have higher priority repairs to make and have already ordered replacements (FastMac TruePower 65W for Powerbook G3, per a recommendation on LowEndMac; will post results if anyone is curious). I suspect these are e-waste, but in case anyone with more time or sense of history than me needs them, thought I'd make them available here first. Shipping from Texas, USA, area code 78254; I'll include the (IEC C13?) cord that goes from the wart to the wall only if you request it, since I can use those and you may want to save on shipping. 1) Powerbook Duo AC adaptor, model AA19200, Apple family number M2693. Output 24V, 1.5A, plug fits our Powerbook 3400's and presumably other powerbooks as well. Our 3400's now refuse to run or charge from it. 2) Macintosh Powerbook 45W Power Adaptor, Model Number 3037. Output 24V, 1.87 A. This one looks a lot like the power adaptors that came with the 3400's, but the connector on its cable is a much narrower barrel with no central pin. It is possible this one works. 2a) "VST Charger 500 for Apple Powerbook 5300 & 190 Series batteries; Requires Apple or VST AC or AC/DC adaptor. DC in 24V 2.0 A." Connector matches 2) above (the narrow barrel) so it would be a good idea to take these together; accepts two battery packs for PB 190/5300/3400 on top. This one emitted magic smoke simultaneous with ceasing to work, so it will definitely need parts replaced. 3) "Macintosh Powerbook 45W AC Adapter" Output 24V, 1.88A. This one has the larger connector that fits the 3400s. I tried to open it, so the label is a bit torn up. Our 3400's refuse to run or charge from this one. Please send email to me (best) or the list, or contact me at cellphone number below. I'll wait until May 20 or so before tossing these. -- - 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.

13 years, 11 months

ROI PDP11 Qbus Cards..

by holm＠freibergnet.de

Hi, I have 2 Q-Bus Memory Boards from "ROI", one is an 256KiB the other an 1MB Double size Board. Both are equipped with an AM2964 Memory Controller and the 1MB Board seams to be the successor of the 256KiB Board, small changes besides the Memory. Both Boards have 4x9 Memory Chips (4164/41256) and two 74S280 Parity Generators on it. I've tested the memories with some xxdp Tests, some of them are complaining that there are no parity Registers on the Boards and are aborting. VMSACO tests both boards w/o Errors but mentiones that there are no Paritiy Registers. What have they build here? Has anyone documentation for that Boards? The 256KB Board has only "ROI RAM1" on the PCB, the 1MB one has ROI "MRL-11" on it and a sticker with "M1M10311". Than I have another ROI Board, It has two rows of blinkenlights on the front, displaying the state of some BUS Signals, but there is also a 10 Pin Berg Connector on it. The board mostly consists of an empty Pin hole area but there is also an Xtal-Oszillator with 5.0688Mhz, a GAL, a 74HC39, an 74HC74, an 74HC4040 and an 74HC04 on it. This Board is Labeled "ROI BSB11". I think that the berg connector provides some access for Reset and Halt Switches, Electonics possibly are for the DCOK and ACOK Signals? Does anyone know more? Kind Regards, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Freiberger Stra?e 42, 09600 Obersch?na, USt-Id: DE253710583 www.tsht.de, info at tsht.de, Fax +49 3731 74200, Mobil: 0172 8790 741

13 years, 11 months

cctalk@classiccmp.org

by paco.linux＠gmail.com

Very bad year: http://semiaccurate.com/2012/05/04/amds-chuck-moore-has-passed-away/ Paco -- |_|0|_| |_|_|0| ??? |0|0|0|

13 years, 11 months

MicroSD: one good ripoff deserves another / Iomega Zip's

by feldman.r＠comcast.net

>From: Dave McGuire < mcguire at neurotica.com > > >On 04/23/2012 05:59 PM, joe lobocki wrote: >> I use a SD to CF adapter in my canon digital rebel without an issue, as I >> can no longer find CF (I also haven't tried a camera store but they are >> probably a ripoff...) > >Where do you live that you cannot find CF cards?! That's insane. I >bought a handful a couple of weeks ago, and the guy I'm crashing with >here in FL this week has three brand new ones sitting on his kitchen table. I was just at my local Office Depot (a chain of large office supply stores, for those not in the US) in downtown Chicago and they have Lexar 4 GB CF cards for $25 and 8 GB cards for $40, in stock. Bob

13 years, 11 months

Tek 856x floppy images

by dm561＠torfree.net

Date: Sat, 12 May 2012 00:54:43 -0700 From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> > If you have an old PC system with a National Semi 8473 or 8473, you've got > the best of the lot. But what if you've got an 8473 instead? ;-)

13 years, 11 months

DigiDesign DSP cards

by fraveydank＠gmail.com

I recently acquired a PowerMac 9600/233 with a bunch of DigiDesign DSP Farm cards in it. I have no intention of using this machine for Pro Tools, but I can think of a few fun things to do with some PCI cards full of DSP56k chips. Does anyone know anything about where to get technical details of the cards? DigiDesign is, understandably, rather mum on the internals, but I can't imagine it's all that complex. Worst case, I can probably reverse-engineer the drivers, but that's rather labor-intensive. - Dave

13 years, 11 months

Users of KED / KEX on the PDP-11

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

I would appreciate suggestions along with any information in regard to the uses of KED / KEX This note is addressed to those users who still make modifications to text files via KED / KEX. The number of such users may be so small (zero) that there is no interest in my five aspects of the proposed set of specifications at the very end of this post. Any and all comments will be appreciated. However, Johnny Billquist recently mentioned that the VT420 supports up to 48 vertical lines. This has provided the incentive along with the justification to support at least that many vertical lines under KED / KEX. After all, if an ALL DEC hardware system is being used, then even though a VT420 with 48 lines is not a supported hardware feature, often such new hardware does work. Normally, when I use a PDP-11 environment, I run the Ersatz-11 emulator. My video card, monitor, the rest of the hardware and the operating system (so far Windows 98SE and Windows XP) can support a full screen mode with the DOS version with either 50 vertical lines by 80 columns or 44 vertical lines by 132 columns. When the Win32 version is used, it is possible to initiate as: E11 /CONSIZE:80x60 to have a screen of either 60 vertical lines by 80 columns or 60 vertical lines by 132 columns. For both the DOS and the Win32 version, using the wide screen command (under KED / KEX): SET SCREEN 132 changes the number of columns to 132 text characters with the DOS version of E11 then reverting to 44 vertical lines (full screen mode must be used for 132 columns) while the Win32 version of E11 retains the same number of vertical lines (allowing up to 60 vertical lines - fewer vertical lines are allowed and the default is 24 vertical lines). While there might be valid reasons for using either the DOS version or the Win32 versions of Ersatz-11 with more than 24 vertical lines, but less then 44 vertical lines, I really do not see much point in doing so. Increasing the number of vertical lines by less than 20 lines does not seem like much of an advantage. If subsequent testing shows that other options of vertical line number between 24 lines and 44 lines can run correctly, then that will be considered a bonus. Unless there is a specific request for a specific option of lines by columns that is not listed below, no additions will be made to that list. NOTE that not all hardware / software combinations of a PC support 132 character text lines under the DOS version of E11. I searched for quite some time to find a video controller / monitor / cable connection to run under Windows XP which would support 132 character text lines. As far as I know, all Win32 versions of E11 support 132 character text lines. Depending on the screen setting for the monitor (i.e. the number of pixels), 24 lines can always be supported and around 48 lines can be supported with using screens of 1280 by 1024 pixels. If 60 lines are to be supported, a larger pixel count is required. A screen of 1800 by 1440 pixels has been found to easily support 60 lines under the Win32 version of Erstaz-11. But, before I freeze the specs for the changes to KED / KEX, some feedback from other users would be helpful. Just how many vertical lines would be useful? Is a somewhat compressed character set (only when using the DOS full screen version) a sufficient deterrent to having 50 vertical lines as opposed to 24 vertical lines? Of course, Ersatz-11 would need to be checked out to determine if 60 vertical lines are supported when KED / KEX are used. And, of course, there is always the possibility that technical considerations might prohibit support of 60 vertical lines when KED / KEX are used. And finally, is it essential that the version of KED / KEX which supports 60 vertical lines also support terminals with only 24 vertical lines? Or is it reasonable that the user know the physical characteristics of the terminal such as when a VT52 is used with K52.SAV and a VT100 is used with KED.SAV? Obviously, the current versions of KED / KEX will not support 60 vertical lines or I would not be writing this note. But, it might be very difficult to have KED / KEX support both 24 vertical lines and 60 vertical lines with the same code. In addition, a buffer must be present within KED / KEX which is large enough to hold all of the characters being displayed on the screen. When the maximum number of characters is 3168 characters (=24*132), that buffer is reasonable to accommodate. If the maximum number of characters is 7920 (=60*132), there may be insufficient room left for other requirements. The solution might be to locate the screen buffer elsewhere since, in particular, with the KEX version, there are some memory address locations which are not being used. One more point. Most of the time, I run 4 system jobs under RT-11 using KEX. The low memory required for each job is 801 words. This seems like substantially more than should be required. If the required number of words could be reduced by 352 words to just 449 words, would that be helpful? In summary, here are the specs thus far: (a) Enhance KED / KEX to support at least 50 vertical lines and up to 60 vertical lines if possible (b) If possible, the same versions of KED / KEX should support any number of vertical lines up to 60 vertical lines (c) If possible, the modified versions of KED / KEX should have as few differences as possible from the versions of KED / KED which support only 24 vertical lines (d) Support for different vertical lines will specifically include: - the standard DEC VT100 screens of: o 24 lines by 80 columns o 24 lines by 132 columns o 14 lines by 132 columns (no avo option) - the video cards on a PC running a PDP-11 under the DOS version of Ersatz-11 which supports these full screen options: o 24 lines of 80 columns o 24 lines of 132 columns o 50 lines of 80 columns o 44 lines by 132 columns - the normal windows support on a PC running a PDP-11 under the Win32 version of Ersatz-11 (tested on Windows 98SE and XP): o 24 lines by 80 columns o 24 lines by 132 columns o from 44 to 60 lines by 80 columns o from 44 to 60 lines by 132 columns - additional screen configurations if suggested - however, only two column sizes, 80 and 132 columns, will be supported (e) Reduce the low memory words required from 801 to 449 words for system jobs under a mapped RT-11 monitor as in: SRUN KEX.REL/LEVEL:n/TERMINAL:n/NAME:Kn (n = 1 to 6) Suggestions and any other information would be very much appreciated. Jerome Fine

13 years, 11 months

Bubble Memory "IBM 256KB Memory Card" P/N 6407740 ?

by billdeg＠degnanco.com

There was some debate at VCF East whether this "IBM 256KB Memory Card" P/N 6407740 is a bubble memory card (pic below). The card was on display with my IBM PC 5150 exhibit. I originally pulled it from an IBM 5155 portable. http://www.vintagecomputer.net/ibm/5155/ibm_256KB_memory_card_6407740.jpg Typically you don't see 32-pin 64K RAM chips on a ISA card. That does not make it bubble memory though, so I put this out to the esteemed CCTECH community for answers/ideas. I do not have a technical reference manual, but I do have the IBM 64/256KB Memory Expansion Option manual. That ain't it. Date codes on some of the chips are from 1984. The memory chips are marked 6119927 IBM-14 PQ ESD 1 H28 708016 I found this from a web search for IBM 6407740: IBM-14 PQ ESD 64KB 32-PIN MEMORY MODULE 5150/5175 ...so, whadda we gots ? Thanks Bill

13 years, 11 months

Bubble Memory "IBM 256KB Memory Card" P/N 6407740 ?

by billdeg＠degnanco.com

>> >> There was some debate at VCF East whether this "IBM 256KB Memory >> Card" P/N 6407740 is a bubble memory card (pic below). The card was >> on display with my IBM PC 5150 exhibit. I originally pulled it from >> an IBM 5155 portable. >> >> http://www.vintagecomputer.net/ibm/5155/ibm_256KB_memory_card_6407740.jpg >> >> Typically you don't see 32-pin 64K RAM chips on a ISA card. That >> does not make it bubble memory though, so I put this out to the >> esteemed CCTECH community for answers/ideas. > >I doubt very much if it's bubble memory, for sevrral reasons. > > >I do wonder why it existed. It is trivial to put 640K on the motherboard >of a 5155, jsut as in a 5160 (XT). It's a matter of putting the right >TAMs in (41256s in banks 0 and 1, 4164s in banks 2 and 3), adding a >74S158 (or 74F158) in the enpty socket towards the front and jumpering E1 >to E2. UPDATE: I did not find the card listed in any manuals that I have, but I did find a reference to the 32-pin DRAM. If I were to guess, you'll find this card as an option specific to the IBM 5155 portable, to boost the system up to 512K. It's a small card, perfect for the smaller 5155 chassis. I should mention that I got this particular 5155 with the 256KB RAM card from an old IBM tech who wanted to find a home for some of his bench gear. Bill

13 years, 11 months

fbr format

by aek＠bitsavers.org

8560 MUSDU System Reference Manual FBR(5) ___________________________________________________________________________ FBR(5) NAME fbr - file backup and restore format SYNTAX #include <sys/types.h> #include <fbr.h> DESCRIPTION Fbr saves and restores directories and files on a floppy disk archive, preserving aliases (multiple links to the same file). The archive consists of: Boot block - Block zero is reserved for a copy of a stand-alone boot program. Directory area - This area contains directory information for all files and directories on the archive. The first entry in this area is dedicated to the archive label. Data area - The data of all files on the archive is stored here. The format of a directory entry (as given in the include file) fol- lows. To increase the portability of archives, this structure is read and written in PDP-11 format regardless of what machine fbr_is running on. #define PATHLEN 106 /* space for path */ struct fbrent { char fbr_path[PATHLEN]; /* pathname */ unsigned short fbr_mode; short fbr_uid; /* owner's userI^AD */ short fbr_gid; /* owner's groupID */ off_t fbr_size; /* size in bytes */ time_t fbr_acct; /* access date-time */ time_t fbr_modt; /* modify date-time */ unsigned fbr_fblk; /* firs^At data block */ char fbr_zero; /* unused */ char fbr_chks; /* checksum */ }; The path field is the pathname of the file when archived, less any redundant slashes or initial './'. It is null-terminated if less than PATHLEN bytes long. The mode, uid, gid, size, and access and modifi- cation date-times are in the same format as their corresponding i-node fields. As in the file system, an available entry has a mode of zero. The fblk field contains the block number of the first data block allo- cated to this file. The zero field is unused. The checksum field contains a number such that the sum of the first 127 bytes of the 1 FBR(5) 8560 MUSDU System Reference Manual ___________________________________________________________________________ directory entry and the complement of the checksum is zero. Each file's data starts on a block boundary and occupies max(1,((size + 511) / 512) contiguous blocks. At least one archive block is allo- cated to each archived file or directory so that aliases (multiple links) can be properly recorded. Each directory archived is treated as an empty file (I.E. no directory's data is stored). All entries representing links to a given file are identical. In particular, the fblk field in each link's entry contains the same block number. The archive label directory entry contains the following information: path A comment about this archive. mode Set by fbr to a file readable/writeable/executable by all. Other- wise unused. uid The userID of the user who created this archive. gid The groupID of the same. size The total number of bytes in the data area of the archive. This field in combination with the fblk field, records the size of both the directory area and the entire archive. acct The date-time that this archive was created - not its access time. modt The date-time that this archive was last altered. fblk The block number of the first archive block following the direc- tory area. checksum (same as any other directory entry.) SEE_ALSO fbr(1), stat(2).

13 years, 11 months

FW: OLD-COMPUTERS.COM // donation mailing for the UK collectors

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Folks, I don?t have room for these and in fact have to slim down my own collection, particularly my PETs, but anyone in the UK fancy a Superbrain and an Acorn R140? That machine?s worth collecting purely for the BSD side, AFAIK it was the only Acorn unix box. If Andrew is local-ish to me (Cambs, Suffolk) I can collect and store for a bit. Cheers A -- Adrian/Witchy Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest private home computer collection? ------ Forwarded Message From: Olivier Boisseau <olivier at old-computers.com> Date: Sun, 6 May 2012 14:17:36 +0200 To: Olivier Boisseau <olivier at old-computers.com> Subject: OLD-COMPUTERS.COM // donation mailing for the UK collectors Hi A kind visitor proposed to donate us an Intertec Superbrain, Amstrad PC-1512, Acorn R140 and Acorn RiscPC (see original email below). We don't need this donation right now at?old-computers.com <http://old-computers.com/> . Do you want it ? If so please email DIRECTLY Andrew Bell at evoludo at gmail.com You must also agree with these important rules: * ?also this is a donation you will have to pay shipping costs or pick-up the donation at the donor's place * ?you must provide?www.old-computers.com <http://www.old-computers.com/> ?with interesting pictures, info, etc. you might get from this donation * ?you must tell me when you finally get the donation as I can know if donation mailings are working and helpful * ?be nice and polite with this kind person This is a donation mailing sent to several collectors subscribed to?www.old-computers.com <http://www.old-computers.com/> ?collectors list. Your are not alone on this proposition, so be quick! Best regards --- ORIGINAL EMAIL FROM Andrew Bell ---- I have several machines that I'm being forced to get rid of. It's sad to see them go, but I just don't have the space for my collection anymore. I have: Intertec Superbrain Amstrad PC-1512 Acorn R140 Acorn RiscPC These are all (afaik) full systems, including original VDU, keyboard, and (in the case of the RiscPC and Amstrad) mouse. I live in the UK, and would prefer to send these to collectors in the UK, so if you have a mailing list, would you be able to post these to it? This is urgent, as I've been given a deadline of a few days to get rid of these machines, or they will be going to the dump. The R140 is particularly interesting, as it ran an Acorn variant of BSD. These were my first computers, and I'd be heartbroken if I had to throw them away. Many thanks, Andrew Bell -- <http://www.old-computers.com/> <http://www.facebook.com/oldcomputers> ------ End of Forwarded Message

13 years, 11 months

Computing fossils: Old tech holding on for dear life

by lproven＠gmail.com

Article from ITWorld: Computing fossils: Old tech holding on for dear life Some ancient technology is still useful -- and some just won't die http://www.itworld.com/hardware/270936/living-computing-fossils-old-tech-ho… May 08, 2012, 7:27 AM By Josh Fruhlinger, ITworld Consider the abacus. Developed perhaps as long as 4,500 years ago, this handy gadget served the mathematical needs of merchants and accountants until the development of mechanical calculating machines in the 19th century. But the abacus hasn't been forgotten. Instead it still lives on in niches -- for instance teaching preschoolers the basics of counting. There are a number of obsolete technologies and gadgets that have persisted from slightly less ancient times right down to the current day, though again in greatly diminished numbers and scope. A brief tour through these technological fossils serves as a lesson on the durability of items we sometimes think of as ephemeral. -- Liam Proven ? Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884

13 years, 11 months

BASIC-PLUS 2 install on RSX-11M 4.6

by fraveydank＠gmail.com

Hey all, I'm trying to install BP2 on my SIMH system (need to fix my 9-track before it'll be worth trying on real iron). I'm having some trouble with the install, though. I'm using the 2.7 tape found on trailing-edge's rsxdists FTP area, and I can copy BP2RSX.CMD just fine. However, when I try to run it and install, one of two things happens, depending on my choices: - If I select the prebuilt distribution, there are a number of files missing, and it barfs after a number of errors. - If I select non-prebuilt, it crashes with a "Reserved inst execution" error; if I delete the .ENABLE QUIET at the start of the indirect file, I see that this happens when it tries to execute the DIALOG.TSK file it's just copied. I'm not in the mood to actually run this through a debugger, since I'm still somewhat unfamiliar with development on RSX. Does anyone know if this is maybe a known dodgy tape image? I can list the directories just fine with FLX, so I assume it's not totally boned, but this is puzzling me (partly because I'm a bit new to RSX and the like). - Dave

13 years, 11 months

Bubble Memory "IBM 256KB Memory Card" P/N 6407740 ?

by fjkraan＠xs4all.nl

> > ...so, whadda we gots ? > Most bubble memory modules need a lot more special chips to operate. Intel (72?? chips) and others made them. If the 256 kByte appears as normal memory in the PC, it can't be real bubbles. Bubble memory is not real random access per byte, it reads and writes 'pages' of 128 bytes. For more info see: http://www.vintagecomputer.net/fjkraan/comp/pc5000/bubble.html Fred Jan

13 years, 11 months

PDP-11/35 (And: It's good to be back)

by lists＠loomcom.com

Hi folks, First I'd just like to say it's good to be back. I think I first joined Classiccmp in 1998-ish, and I've been on-again off-again as time and life has permitted participation in the hobby. Following a very long time spent off the list, it's really good to finally be back. I've missed this place a lot. Now, for the meat... Last year I was offered a PDP-11/35 by a friend who was cleaning out his shed in preparation for a move back to the Bay Area. I haven't had any PDP-11s in a long time (unfortunately!), so I jumped at the offer. He moved it down here two weeks ago, and I picked it up. It's seen better days, that's for sure. Time, the climate, mice, and spiders all did some damage. On first sight I was scared there wouldn't be anything salvageable. But I was in luck, the physical damage was largely confined to the metal chassis, which is covered in surface rust and dirt. I've started to work on cleaning it up and restoring it, and I'm documenting the process here: http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/index.html I haven't done very much yet other than disassembly and a little surface cleaning. My next priority will be to get the power supply out so I can inspect it, clean it (if needed), and start testing it on my workbench. Eventually I want to take care of the chassis by sandblasting it and re-painting it. That will be a while, though. Anyway, I hope I'll be able to bounce debugging questions off folks here as I go along. And if anyone local to me (San Francisco Bay Area) would be willing to lend a hand now and again, that would be fantastic. I may need some help by the time I get around to applying power. One downside to this is that it has rekindled my DEC-lust to levels not seen since 2000. A real pity - over the years I've had tons (probably literally) of DEC gear come and go through my collection, but I've kept almost none of it due to lack of a permanent, owned home for it all. But now that I'm settling down and I have some time again, I wish I'd kept a lot of it. Such is life - you never really appreciate what you have until it's gone :) At least it has all gone to other collectors, and not to the scrappers! -Seth

13 years, 11 months

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