test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by doug＠blinkenlights.com

Not mine, but I had to post it.... http://youtu.be/w68qZ8JvBds instruments a. HP Scanjet 3P, Adaptec SCSI card and a computer powered by Ubuntu v9.10 OS as the Vocals. (hey, the scanner is old) b. Atari 800XL with an EiCO Oscilloscope as the Organ c. Texas instrument Ti-99/4A with a Tektronix Oscilloscope as the Guitar d. Hard-drive powered by a PiC16F84A microcontroller as the bass drum and cymbal

14 years, 6 months

Old Apple price lists

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

Where can I find an archive of old Apple price lists, particularly from the 70s and 80s? -- 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?

14 years, 6 months

Word Perfect 5.1 Documents?

by halarewich＠gmail.com

>from something I dug up "OpenOffice Writer can read WordPerfect 5.1 documents, as can Microsoft Word" see http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/reading-wordsatar-… On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 3:38 PM, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: > Out of curiosity, what is there in the way of modern software that can > read Word Perfect 5.1 (probably some 5.2 as well) for DOS documents? The > good news is that I retrieved all these files at some point in the past > from the 3.5" floppy they were on. :-) > > Zane > > > > -- > | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | > | healyzh at aracnet.com | OpenVMS Enthusiast | > | | Photographer | > +-----------------------------**-----+------------------------**----+ > | My flickr Photostream | > | http://www.flickr.com/photos/**33848088 at N03/<http://www.flickr.com/photos/33848088 at N03/> | >

14 years, 6 months

The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix

by a50mhzham＠gmail.com

Interesting article about the 40th anniversary of the progenitor of many modern operating systems. It even mentions our very own Al Kossow, "One holy grail that eluded us for a long time was the first edition of Unix in any form, electronic or otherwise. Then, in 2006, Al Kossow >from the <http://www.computerhistory.org/>Computer History Museum, in Mountain View, Calif., unearthed a printed study of Unix dated 1972, which not only covered the internal workings of Unix but also included a complete assembly listing of the kernel, the main component of this operating system. This was an amazing find?like discovering an old Ford Model T collecting dust in a corner of a barn. But we didn't just want to admire the chrome work from afar. We wanted to see the thing run again." http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/the-strange-birth-and-long-life… I love the picture of the very first man page. 601 . [Science] All science is either physics or stamp collecting. --Ernest (1st Baron) Rutherford (1871-1937) NEW: a50mhzham at gmail.com ? N9QQB (amateur radio) "HEY YOU" (loud shouting) ? Second Tops (Set Dancing) ? FIND ME ON FACEBOOK 43? 7' 17.2" N by 88? 6' 28.9" W ? Elevation 815' ? Grid Square EN53wc LAN/Telecom Analyst ? Open-source Dude ? Musician ? Registered Linux User 385531

14 years, 6 months

Tandata TD1100 printer port

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

As I mnentioend the other night, I've added the parallel printer port to that TD1100 viewdata terminal. The output is a DA15 socket, and in fact the hardest part of adding the port was cutting the back panel of the unit ot allow the conenctor to come through. I had to remove the back panel entirely from the PCB, which invovled desoldering the line wires and the mains wiring.... Anyway. I then had to make a cable from the DA15 to a 36 pin Microribbon conenctor to conenct ot a Cnetronics-interfaced printer. As I mentioend, I'd gueessed as to what the signals were, so I sued those guesses for the initial wiring. Connected the unit to an old Epson FX80+ and pressed the 'print' key on the terminal. It printed. Some garbage, some readable text. I then rememebred the pritner setup screen (type 'P#' at the dialer screen) and found it was set to 'teletext compatible' -- i.e. it would handle the various teletxt/viewdata controll codes and graphics. I reset it to 'ASCII text' and tried again. This time it printed correctly -- almsot. It was double-spacign the lines. I then realsied that the pritner had previously been used with a BBC micro, a machine that, by default, sends only a <CR> as a newline. There's a DIP swithc in most old Epsons to cater for this, it foces the AutoFeedXT line on the inteface conenctor low. Only problem was, I didn't haev the printer manaul. Oh well, I just took it apart and traced the conenctions from the AutoFeedXT pin through the filter resistor to a DRIP swithc. Turnrf it off (so it no longer asserted the AutoFeedXT signal) and put the pritner together. This time it worked fine. My gueses on the printer port signals had probed to be correct. In case anyoen else wants to do it, here's the wirelist (and colours) of the cable I made : 1 o----D3------Or----o 5 2 o----D6------Bu----o 8 3 o----D7------Pu----o 9 4 o----D0------Bk----o 2 5 o----D4------Y-----o 6 6 o----D5------Gn----o 7 7 o----Err/----R/Bu--o 32 8 o----Gnd-----Gy----o 19 9 o----Gnd-----W-----o 30 10 o----D1------Be----o 3 11 o----D2------R-----o 4 12 o----Init/---Tq----o 31 13 o----Stb/----Pk----o 1 14 o----Ack/----R/Y---o 10 15 o----Busy----R/Gn--o 11 DA15P 36 pin Microribbon -tony

14 years, 6 months

Wanted -- cheap GPIB / HPIB / IEEE488 cables!

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi guys, Does anyone here have a surplus of GPIB, HPIB or IEEE488 cables (they're all the same thing) with metric threads? (the thumbscrews will probably be black -- the silver ones are AIUI usually some SAE thread type or other). I'm after a couple of the short 1-2ft "instrument to instrument" cables, a 1-metre (to replace a nasty little knockoff cable which has excessively long thumbscrews) and a 2-metre (to replace a buggered up Belden cable). These seem to be commanding utterly insane prices on Greed-Bay, and are basically unavailable elsewhere... Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

14 years, 6 months

Multiple IBM System/34 systems available in Albany, Georgia

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

Some good looking, vintage systems, located in Georgia. Contact KAY below if interested: See photos here: http://oldcomputers.net/temp/ibm_system34.jpg http://oldcomputers.net/temp/5291_monitor.jpg http://oldcomputers.net/temp/5251_monitor.jpg http://oldcomputers.net/temp/5225_printer.jpg Kay writes: I have *four* IBM System/34 minicomputers from the late 1970s. I also have *three* 5225 Printers, monitors, instruction books. Also 8" floppy disks to complete the sets. Interested in selling or donating to a good cause. Thank you, Kay Ragan kgragan at bellsouth.net Flint Beverage Co., Inc. Albany, GA

14 years, 6 months

Paging Vince Briel

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

Does anyone know how to get in touch with Vince Briel these days? I've tried e-mail to no avail and his website is a closed loop. If you are in contact with him please pass along that I'd like to speak with him. Thanks! -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

14 years, 6 months

Computer Graphics Museum sprawl

by legalize＠xmission.com

I've moved the collection of the Computer Graphics Museum to its new home in Salt Lake City and now I'm organizing the collection. Here are some pics of everything sprawled out over the floor during the initial move: <http://manx.classiccmp.org/collections/cgm/index.html> -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 version available for download <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com/the-direct3d-graphics-pipeline/> Legalize Adulthood! <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>

14 years, 6 months

Idioms (was: Re: Mac/Mac Programming/Cocoa...)

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 7:29 -0600 12/6/11, <cctalk-request at classiccmp.org> wrote: >On Tue, 6 Dec 2011, Liam Proven wrote: > > > As I write I am on my easy hinge from an excellent early Yule party. Mine >> Joys of predictive text entry on a keyboardless smartphone. Er, when >> drunk. That was /meant/ to say "I am on my way home..." 8?) > >Damn. > >I thought that it was a nice colorful idiomatic expression. LOL. I have always wondered where all the nice colorful British idiomatic expressions come from. At last I know! -- - 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.

14 years, 6 months

institutional amnesia

by toby＠telegraphics.com.au

I am sure many on the list will painfully recognise this scenario: http://wrttn.in/04af1a "I had naively hoped digitization would solve our problems forever. My manager was reading a dense book about it that I picked up out of curiosity. It had seemed persuasive. But, the old-fashioned phone and email tree worked a bit better. The old research division is still mostly intact, and their physical library exists. ... The paper documents tauntingly sport IDs announcing that they had been digitized by Big Digitization Corp at some point in the past. Who knows what happened to that archive." --Toby

14 years, 6 months

Archiving ST-506 drives

by legalize＠xmission.com

What's the best way to do this? I believe I have vintage PCs with ISA slots and ST-506 hard drive controllers, so that may be an option. However, the drives I want to archive are not from a PC system, but have the ST-506 electrical interface. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 version available for download <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com/the-direct3d-graphics-pipeline/> Legalize Adulthood! <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>

14 years, 6 months

Tandata (Tantel) Viewdata terminal configuration

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

I've got a small Viewdate (PRestel) terminal on the bench at the momnet, a Tandata TD1100. I've made a few modifications, in particular I've removed the RF modualtor (which I find to be a pain), added the RGB oupt ucomponents, and fitted a 3 pin DIN socket in place of the redundant RF output socket with the pins wired to the audio signal, compostie video and ground. So I can now use it with compoite or RGB monitors. I've also added the printer port components. [For reference, the RGB output components are the ones hidden by the modulator can. The IC is a 74LS364, there are 4 resistors, all 220 Ohm, 5 picofuses to protect the telephone line agians a breakdown i nthe monitor wihci puts a high voltage on the input pins, 8 5.6V zener diodes and the 5 pin DIN socket. Fit the link F-D to get TTL sync. For the compopstie output, fit 10uF or 47uF capacitors in the 2 spaces hiddle by the modulator. Reduse the seires reissotr in the compostie signal (I think it's R9 on the PCB) from 1k to 220 Ohms. Fit a DIN socket in place of the RF output socket (the fibreglass insualtor of the latter can be drileld ot take a single-hole mountign DIN socket) and wire the pins to ground, the right hand hole of R5 (audio) and hole E (video). For the pritner prot, the 3 missign chips are 74LS374, a 74LS365 and a 74LS74. Since these have different numebrs of pins, it's obvious which goes where. The outptu conenctor is a DA15, you have yo cut a regtasnlge out of the back panel.] anyway, it does seem to work. I've conencted it to another modem[1] -- neither needs any DC line 'battery' so just connecting them together was enough. I've discovered that from the 'dialer' screen, presing '#' energises the line relay and conencts the lien audio to the audio output. If it then detecs a carrier from the remote modem, it goes into on-line mode, it then disables audio fro mthe line to the audio output and turns on tis transmit carrier. Obviosuly trasmit ias at 75 buard, receive is at 1200 baud, it's 7 bits, even parity (and it cares about the parity). [1] An old Miracle WS2000, the black box with 3 knovbs on the front that weas commonly used with the BBC micor. It's an AM7910 and not much else, I like it because it can be controlled from the front paenl rotary swiches, and I Know exactly waht it's going to do. Since I only use it on a private system (my line simulator), I've eneabled the Bell modes by remove the pin from the rotary switch. I'd love to find the autodial and answer boards for it, but no chance... So far, so good. But one thing I can''t figure out on this TD1100 is the dialer. The dialer scrren shows 6 telehone numbers which I beleive are stored in battery-backed RAM inside the unit. at this screen, typing in 1 to 6 followed by a '#' dials that number foem the list and then goes itn othe on-line mode. As I said, a plain '# gopes into that mode iwthout dialing. Most other keys give a 'Please Try Again' error message. A 'P' (must be upper case, and note that caps lock is cleaered whenever you get to this screen) goes ota printer setup page (3 options). What I can't do is figure out hoe to set the numbers and/or dial an arbitrary number entered from the keyboard (ad since the battery in my unit is long dead and I've removed it, all the numbers on the lsit are strigns of zeros, not that useful!). I really don't want ot have to disassemble the firmware. Another thing that would be useful, but I probably can figure this out, is the ppinout of the DA15 pritnr conenctor. It's clearly TTL level parallel. There are 2 opuptu ports, oen 8 bits (data I assume), one 2 bits (I guess one of thsoe is strobe, what the other is I don't know) and 3 inputs (one is conencted to a pusle-stretcher, adn is prsumably Ack/, one of the others is probably Busy). Any ideas? -tony

14 years, 6 months

Harvard v. von Neumann

by ploopster＠gmail.com

According to what I've read, the Burroughs B5000 and Manchester Atlas were both Harvard architecture and the GE-645 was von Neumann. Am I correct in my understanding? Peace... Sridhar

14 years, 6 months

manx mirror archive restored

by legalize＠xmission.com

There were a bunch of documents that used to be mirrored on vt100.net. Someone sent me a tarball with a partial backup and I found another place on the net that had a backup copy of the mirrored documents. I've transferred them over to manx.classiccmp.org and you can browse them here: <http://manx.classiccmp.org/mirror/> I've also grabbed some stuff from vt100.net in case that content disappears again. At some point the manx database will have its URLs updated, but that is a lower priority item at the moment. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 version available for download <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com/the-direct3d-graphics-pipeline/> Legalize Adulthood! <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>

14 years, 6 months

Official DEC card mechanical specs

by fraveydank＠gmail.com

I've been more seriously contemplating my QBUS multi-purpose card idea now that one of my other major projects is nearly done. I've been unable to find any official or even quasi-official mechanical specs for DEC cards (QBUS, UNIBUS, etc). I'm obviously looking in the wrong places, since there's a wide degree of uniformity; I'm looking for things like board outlines, edge bevels, component clearances and the like. The electrical specs are in quite a few places, so I'm not worried about that. Interestingly enough, my Douglas CAD software for my old Mac has DEC card outline templates pre-stored. However, I'm not even entirely sure Douglas makes PCBs anymore, and I imagine they can't beat my preferred board house on price (I'd love to be wrong). - Dave

14 years, 6 months

Computer Graphics Museum sprawl

by jlobocki＠gmail.com

Those SGIs seem to have taken quite a beating. the bigger question is, how many of the lightbars still work in the octanes? Ive got mine modded with "incandescent white" LEDs. On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 10:26 PM, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: > At 5:31 PM -0700 12/2/11, Richard wrote: > >> I've moved the collection of the Computer Graphics Museum to its new >> home in Salt Lake City and now I'm organizing the collection. Here >> are some pics of everything sprawled out over the floor during the >> initial move: <http://manx.classiccmp.org/**collections/cgm/index.html<http://manx.classiccmp.org/collections/cgm/index.html> >> > >> > > Good Heavens! And I thought I had storage problems! :-) > > What really stands out is some very serious SGI Hardware. I'm envious of > those Octanes. I only have a pair of o2's. > > Zane > > > > -- > | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | > | healyzh at aracnet.com | OpenVMS Enthusiast | > | | Photographer | > +-----------------------------**-----+------------------------**----+ > | My flickr Photostream | > | http://www.flickr.com/photos/**33848088 at N03/<http://www.flickr.com/photos/33848088 at N03/> | >

14 years, 6 months

"The Complete Historically Brewed" book

by david＠classiccomputing.com

Almost 100 copies were pre-sold through Kickstarter, but you can still buy a copy of this First Edition / Special Kickstarter Edition - with very limited supplies. Please email me directly if you're interested. Thanks! http://www.classiccomputing.com/CC/HB_Book.html Best, David Greelish, Computer Historian President, Atlanta Historical Computing Society Classic Computing The Home of Computer History Nostalgia http://www.classiccomputing.com Classic Computing Blog Retro Computing Roundtable podcast "Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer" audiobook podcast Classic Computing Show video podcast

14 years, 6 months

Big iron for sale in Milwaukee - S.E.L. 810A

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

Vintage "Systems Engineering Laboratories" S.E.L. 810A computer from approx. 1967 is for sale. That's all I know. Contact Sonia for more information: Sonia Perich itsusperich2 at gmail.com Upload your pictures once you buy it. Thanks- Steve.

14 years, 6 months

Microsoft OS/2 1.1 on eBay

by dave＠mitton.com

On 11/30/2011 01:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: >Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:27:07 -0500 >From: Jim Scheef <scheefj at netscape.net> >To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >Subject: Microsoft OS/2 1.1 on eBay > >Did anyone on the list win the Microsoft OS/2 1.1 auction that closed a >few weeks ago? I would dearly like to get images of those disks... > >Jim I rummaged around some more and found 7 3.5" 2MB floppies of IBM OS/2 V1.10 (c) 1988 (IBM and Microsoft) 1- Installation Diskette 4- Operating System 2 -Patches (Corrective Service XR03020) Does someone want these? (for postage) I have a ton of "vintage" DOS and Windows ware. I haven't figured out where/how to dispose of. Dave.

14 years, 6 months

DEC 728 pwr sup and 844 pwr controller

by useddec＠gmail.com

That's right, no "H" before the number, and that means OLD. Can't remember what they came out of, and havn't had time to check, but I found a few of each while digging today. If anyone is interested, please contact me off- list. I also have several hundred Q- bus boards I would like to find a new home for. Thanks, Paul

14 years, 6 months

Alpha, VAX available in Sweden

by pontus＠update.uu.se

Hi If you live close to Gothenburg and can act within a few days I know of some medium sized alpha and small vax machines available for pickup. VT100 and VT520 terminals also. Contact me offlist. Regards, Pontus.

14 years, 6 months

Need A Wyse WY-50?

by ohh＠panix.com

There's a Wyse WY-50 terminal which has been sitting in a box in a warehouse for nobody-really-knows-how-long which has recently come into my hands. I haven't tried powering it up - it probably wants a good checking-out first - but it looks to be in very good cosmetic condition, and the people who gave it to me say it was working when it was stowed. Keyboard, power cord and manual are all with it. It's in Seattle. Free if you can pick it up (Seattle Center, Opera House, we can arrange a time), or UPS shipping costs if you want it shipped. Slight preference to anyone who's willing to pick it up. :) E-mail ohh at panix.com if interested. -O.-

14 years, 6 months

VT100, PDT 11/150

by jgessling＠yahoo.com

Looking through some pictures my sister in law had brought over.? Everyone was ooing and ahhing about the cute kids, except me.? I noticed in the background of one my old DEC PDT 11/150 and a VT100.? Circa 1982 those were the latest and with a modem allowed me to log in to the VAX at work.? Good stuff!? Also a Heathkit H19 terminal that I had built from a kit. The PDT 11/150 was an LSI-11 single board computer stacked on top of 2 8in floppies.? That thing really clattered when I ran it.? I had bought a UCSD P-system for it from a UCSD spin off that supported that box.? The PASCAL was compatible with the Apple II so it was actually useful.? I wrote a 2D gravity modeling program for it that my boss ran on his Apple II to his hearts content without any mainframe charges.?? I can even remember how much it all cost.? The PASCAL system was $500, the H19 $500.? The VT100 and modem were loaners from work, the PDT 11 was free, DEC was giving them away to good customers, I suppose because they couldn't sell them.? Good times. Regards, Jim

14 years, 6 months

Mac/Mac Programming/Cocoa/HyperTalk Books free - Melbourne Australia

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 12:27 PM 12/3/2011, Liam Proven wrote: >On 3 December 2011 03:36, Toby Thain <toby at telegraphics.com.au> wrote: >> >> Right -- you should be able to find it in used bookstores where you are. >> >> ...they still exist, right? :/ > >Yeah, London has a fair few. Oddly, though, the specialists are >getting quite expensive now. Charity shops are the only place for >cheap books, but they almost exclusively deal in trashy fiction, >celebrity books and coffee-table picture books. Does Hay-on-Wye, (Y Gelli Gandryll), the famous Wales book town, have a shop dedicated to tech or classic computing? I've had dinner with King Richard Booth once or twice. He had the idea to buy up all those shipping containers of old books otherwise destined for the pulper, and sorting them by topic and creating used book shops throughout that city. I have a similar pile of old Mac Think C era books and Mac developer program newsletters. And then there's all the MSDN CDs and C compiler stuffs from various PC compilers. Not quite sure what to do with it all. - John

14 years, 6 months

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