test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

help needed: Document scan of ISS Sperry Univac Driver Exerciser avalaible for bitsavers upload

by p.gebhardt＠ymail.com

Hello list, I have a scan of a manual with schematics for a ?ISS Sperry Univac Driver Exerciser for 7330 and 843x type of disk drives that was kindly scanned and provided to me by Mark from the Computer History Archivies Project, since he and myself happen to come accross such exercisers. I contacted two times Al via email for access credentials to upload the document as I did in the past years for numerous scans, but I never got an answer. He is probably very busy during the last months. In case anybody has access for uploading documents on this list, can you contact me so that we can make this document available to everybody? Best regards, Pierre ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.digitalheritage.de

6 years

DIBOL and RPG for RSTS

by bill.gunshannon＠hotmail.com

Does anyone have a .tap image of a DIBOL install tape for RSTS? And while I am at it, was there ever RPG for RSTS? I am so bored I have decided to really load up a SIMH system and just live in the past for a while. I have Fortran-IV, Fortran-77, COBOL-81 and C installed now as well as BASIC and MACRO. But I haven't had the chance to do any DIBOL or RPG for quite some time and would love to try them again. bill

6 years

Unable to download Dave Dunfield's ImageDisk

by dave.dunfield＠gmail.com

>Patrick Finnegan pat at vax11.net Tue Mar 24 18:14:05 CDT 2020 > >It looks like the magic that updates the 5-digit number in the URL doesn't >work after the classiccmp.org recovery. Try: >http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/img54306/imd118.zip > >The rest of the things should be in the same directory. >>On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 1:47 PM Christian Groessler >> Hi, >> >> the link on http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/img/index.htm for >> "ImageDisk 1.18" doesn't work. Apparently most (or all) links on this >> page don't work. The "magic" is me, it has nothing to do with the classiccmo recovery. The links are something I update manually from time to time, and I've recently updated some pages to correct links to my now expired commercial site, and failed to amend these with the current transient page. Should be fixed now - may have to refresh your browser if It cached the bad links. Dave

6 years

Fonts for Dataproducts printers?

by rdbrown0au＠gmail.com

In the "Dataproducts (300/600 LPM) Line Printers Maintenance Guide" (1984) at (23Mb) https://www.wang2200.org/docs/fiche/742-0432.MNL.2273LinePrinterMaintenance… Table 1-2. 300 LPM Character Band & PROM Set Kits p. 1-10 (p. 30-31 in PDF) & Table 1-3 600 LPM .... p1-12 (p. 32-33 in PDF) List "Country/Language","Character Band Number","PROM Number"."Number of Printable Characters","Description","Font Style","Spacing" Band???????????????? Desc????????????????? Font Style 250035-019 64 Utility?? ? ? ? ?? ???? DPC-C 250042-022 96 Upper/Lower???? DPC-B/C 250045-022 96 Upper/Lower???? DPC-C 250088-039 96 ASCII/Modified? DPC-B "Number of Print..." is 64 or 96 ... except for an Arabic one "Spacing in characters per inch" is always 10, except for 4, 15 pitches "Font Style" is either DPC-B, DPC-B/C, DPC-C, DPC-15, DPC-D for Thai, Arabic Are there fonts available for the common Font Styles (DPC-B. DPC-B/C, DPC-C)? The fonts for the Dataproducts (64-char) drum printers may be in that set. It's possible that the Dataproducts laser printers may have provided the fonts, but googling hasn't shown anything, the Dataproducts website is on archive.org, and my searches showed that the Computer History Museum has a printer and a few bands. The HP2614A Drum printer we had in 1980 was probably one of those and we had band printers later. I should look through my printouts ... There's a font for the IBM 1403 http://ibm-1401.info/IBM140310Pitch-Regular.otf "Chainprinter Regular Font" at http://legionfonts.com/fonts/chainprinter-regular may be related to the IBM 1403 one too. This assumes that fonts might be useful for OCR at some stage, or for checking retyped data, or for fun on SIMH.

6 years, 1 month

Vaxstation 400/90 power supply

by emu＠e-bbes.com

Hi all, I have 4000/90 which behaves funny. It only starts, after switching on twice. The first time, all LEDs stay on, flipping the switch off/on, it boots happily. Any insight? THANKS!

6 years, 1 month

Unable to download Dave Dunfield's ImageDisk

by chris＠groessler.org

Hi, the link on http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/img/index.htm for "ImageDisk 1.18" doesn't work. Apparently most (or all) links on this page don't work. Where can I get the latest ImageDisk version? regards, chris

6 years, 1 month

HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program is closing

by johnhreinhardt＠thereinhardts.org

For those interested, HPE has finally, formally announced the end of their participation in the OpenVMS Hobbyist Program.? A number of people have received the below message from HPE, probably everyone they have on record as having current Hobbyist licenses. If you have any current or future ( at least before the end of 2021 ) interest in Hobbyist licenses for any version of OpenVMS from 5.0 through 8.4 for VAX ( only up to 7.3) or Alpha and Itanium, then register now.? HPE is looking to find out how many are interested in Hobbyist offerings and even though the new license will be good through 2021, I don't expect them to be generating them past the end of 2020 and maybe sooner. Register for Hobbyist PAKs at one of the following (I suggest the HPE address first): https://www.hpe.com/h41268/live/index_e.aspx?qid=24548 http://plato.ccsscorp.com/hobbyist_registration.php Note the underscore between hobbyist and registration in hobbyist_registration. One Hobbyist user reports this: I?ve just received an update from the OpenVMS Customer lab: Here?s the message from the OpenVMS team.? The idea was that hobbyists would visit the site and renew their licenses, and in response, we would provide the final set of licenses, explaining the scenario: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ? As we approach the end of the HPE OpenVMS V8.4 standard support period, HPE ??plans to conclude the HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program. ? The HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses we are issuing in 2020 will be the last set. ??Subsequently, HPE will not issue new HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses. Attached ??is the final set of the HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses. These final licenses ??are valid through December 31st, 2021. We hope that this additional validity ??period will enable users to plan for the future. ? Users who wish to avail of HPE OpenVMS long term licenses are encouraged to ??purchase permanent licenses at standard prices. You may contact [Fellman, Jon] ??<jon.fellman at hpe.com <mailto:jon.fellman at hpe.com>> for the same. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Cheers, Wiz!! John H. Reinhardt *From:*owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] *On Behalf Of *David Moylan *Sent:* Saturday, 7 March 2020 4:14 PM *To:* hecnet at Update.UU.SE *Subject:* [HECnet] HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program is closing Hi all, Just received the e-mail below. I?ve hunted around all the various Hobbyist locations and licensing pages and can?t find any additional information. I?ve already replied back to ask what the impact of Hobbyist renewal licensing will be. I have no further information at this stage. Have others received this as well? Does anyone have any further knowledge on this? I can see a few people have forwarded/posted the same message on comp.os.vms. Cheers, Wiz!! *From:*OpenVMS Customer Lab [mailto:openvmscustomerlab at hpe.com] *Sent:* Saturday, 7 March 2020 3:13 PM *Cc:* OpenVMS Customer Lab *Subject:* OpenVMS Hobbyist Notification Dear HPE OpenVMS hobbyist, This is to inform you that HPE is concluding the HPE OpenVMS Hobbyist license program in alignment with the HPE OpenVMS support roadmap. If you wish to understand more details, please reach out to us at the earliest through the usual license renewal webpage. Thank you. HPE OpenVMS team

6 years, 1 month

Getting rid of dec writer II pdp11/83 vt320s

by philmac750＠virginmedia.com

Hello all, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy in current times.? Forgive the cold email, I got your email addresses as collectors of DEC computer history.?The reason for email is that I am clearing out some of my stuff as we are thinking of moving house, I live in Wakefield.?In February 2019 I salvaged a PDP11 which was used in a simulator for a coal fired power station steam turbine unit at DRAX Power Station, where I was working as a contractor up until Dec 2019.In the same building I was also allowed to take a DecWriter II, some manuals and a couple of VT320s with some other smaller hand held kit.?I have supporting documentation from the power station to state that these items are now mine.?They were all in working order as the simulator was last powered up in Nov 2019.? I am not in a position to power up the PDP 11 at home, but have plugged in the VT320s and the DEC Writer and they all work.? The dec Writer has 1 sticky key, and has the original product/shipping notice stuck inside the unit dated 1977 !! I even bought some new ink and ribbons, as my intention was to get these and the PDP11 setup and working in my office.? I used the Dec Writer in school, many many years ago, my first introduction to computers, paper tape and punched cards, a foam modem through to the college from my secondary school ! (Fortran IV)?I simply could not let these items go to scrap, which is where they were heading, so I approached the manager of the building at Drax and agreed to remove these items from site at zero cost to Drax.? The entire simulator, all it?s hand built boards and electronics were simply heading for the skip as they were demolishing the entire training centre in favour of new Gas turbine plant.? ?I am wondering if you know any forums or contacts that might be interested in purchasing these items, I am not asking silly money as these need to go to a collector and preserved, the issue will be shipping or I might even transport them myself, as they are extremely heavy items.?If not, I will google a little more and failing that, contact a UK museum to see if they would be interested in these historic pieces.?Thank you for reading.?PhilSent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

6 years, 1 month

[HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download --> Decnet

by R.Voorhorst＠swabhawat.com

It looks there is some decnet on the disk. Exec list gives phase-III router: $ mc ncp NCP>show exec char Node Volatile Characteristics as of 21-MAR-2020 15:16:42 Executor node = 0 Identification = DECnet-VAX V3.0, VMS V3.0 Management version = V3.0.0 Incoming timer = 45 Outgoing timer = 45 NSP version = V3.2.0 Maximum links = 32 Delay factor = 64 Delay weight = 2 Inactivity timer = 60 Retransmit factor = 10 Routing version = V1.3.0 Type = routing Routing timer = 600 Maximum address = 1 Maximum circuits = 0 Maximum cost = 1023 Maximum hops = 31 Maximum visits = 63 Maximum buffers = 2 Buffer size = 1000 Default access = incoming and outgoing So ..... playtime ....? R.V. -----Original Message----- From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of R. Voorhorst Sent: Saturday, 21 March, 2020 14:48 To: hecnet at Update.UU.SE; 'Ray Jewhurst' <raywjewhurst at gmail.com>; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Cc: 'simh' <simH at trailing-edge.com>; 'John Dundas' <dundas at caltech.edu> Subject: RE: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download --> boot on Vax8600/50 Boot on Vax8600: HK0: 'F:\Shares\Distribution\VMS\Vms_30\VAXVMSV3.0-26APR1982\vmsv30.rk07' Contains ODS2 File system HK0: Volume Name: VAXVMSRL3 Format: DECFILE11B Sectors In Volume: 53790 sim> b hk0 Loading boot code from internal vmb.exe %SYSBOOT-W-ECO or microcode version less than minimum required for VMS. %SYSBOOT-E-Unable to locate file SYSLOA SC.EXE HALT instruction, PC: 0000325A (CLRQ R8) sim> So some work to do or not (very well) possible. So it will run on Vax11/780 the original workhorse from then. Somewhere a Decnet-3.0 around for Vms to make it complete? Best regards, R.V. -----Original Message----- From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of Paul Birkel Sent: Saturday, 21 March, 2020 13:56 To: 'Ray Jewhurst' <raywjewhurst at gmail.com>; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' <cctalk at classiccmp.org>; hecnet at update.uu.se Cc: 'simh' <simH at trailing-edge.com>; 'John Dundas' <dundas at caltech.edu> Subject: RE: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download According to the Release Notes it works on the 11/750 and 11/730 as well. See: AA-D015D-TE https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decvaxvms3leaseNotesV3.0May82_5458871… -----Original Message----- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ray Jewhurst via cctalk Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 8:34 AM To: hecnet at update.uu.se Cc: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; simh; John Dundas Subject: Re: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download >From 1982 I see. I know that this will run on the 780/785 but what about the other VAX-11s or the 8600? I am purely a simulator and have never used the real thing and I am not sure what years the models in question were released. Sorry if my questions seem ignorant. Ray On Sat, Mar 21, 2020, 8:08 AM Supratim Sanyal <supratim at riseup.net> wrote: > John Dundas' distribution of VAX/VMS version 3.0 (April 1982) can now > be downloaded from my Dropbox. > > The SYSTEM password is MANAGER. > > Note: Dropbox does not force you to create an account, if you look > carefully you will see a "Continue to view" link at the bottom of that > pop-up. > > Here's what it boots into: > > > VAX/VMS Version V3.0 26-APR-1982 16:21 > > > PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY HH:MM) 21-MAR-2020 11:58 > %JBC-I-NEWQUEUE, new queue file created %OPCOM, 21-MAR-2020 > 11:58:34.51, logfile initialized by operator OPA0 > logfile is SYS$MANAGER:OPERATOR.LOG > Login quotas - Interactive limit=64, Current interactive value=0 > SYSTEM job terminated at 21-MAR-2020 11:58:39.91 > > Username: SYSTEM > Password: > Welcome to VAX/VMS version V3.0 $ $ > > Grab it from https://bit.ly/vaxvms30 > > Regards, > Supratim > > -- > Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT > 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W > QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet > >

6 years, 1 month

[HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download --> boot on Vax8600/50

by R.Voorhorst＠swabhawat.com

Boot on Vax8600: HK0: 'F:\Shares\Distribution\VMS\Vms_30\VAXVMSV3.0-26APR1982\vmsv30.rk07' Contains ODS2 File system HK0: Volume Name: VAXVMSRL3 Format: DECFILE11B Sectors In Volume: 53790 sim> b hk0 Loading boot code from internal vmb.exe %SYSBOOT-W-ECO or microcode version less than minimum required for VMS. %SYSBOOT-E-Unable to locate file SYSLOA SC.EXE HALT instruction, PC: 0000325A (CLRQ R8) sim> So some work to do or not (very well) possible. So it will run on Vax11/780 the original workhorse from then. Somewhere a Decnet-3.0 around for Vms to make it complete? Best regards, R.V. -----Original Message----- From: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE [mailto:owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE] On Behalf Of Paul Birkel Sent: Saturday, 21 March, 2020 13:56 To: 'Ray Jewhurst' <raywjewhurst at gmail.com>; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' <cctalk at classiccmp.org>; hecnet at update.uu.se Cc: 'simh' <simH at trailing-edge.com>; 'John Dundas' <dundas at caltech.edu> Subject: RE: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download According to the Release Notes it works on the 11/750 and 11/730 as well. See: AA-D015D-TE https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_decvaxvms3leaseNotesV3.0May82_5458871… -----Original Message----- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ray Jewhurst via cctalk Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2020 8:34 AM To: hecnet at update.uu.se Cc: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts; simh; John Dundas Subject: Re: [HECnet] VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download >From 1982 I see. I know that this will run on the 780/785 but what about the other VAX-11s or the 8600? I am purely a simulator and have never used the real thing and I am not sure what years the models in question were released. Sorry if my questions seem ignorant. Ray On Sat, Mar 21, 2020, 8:08 AM Supratim Sanyal <supratim at riseup.net> wrote: > John Dundas' distribution of VAX/VMS version 3.0 (April 1982) can now > be downloaded from my Dropbox. > > The SYSTEM password is MANAGER. > > Note: Dropbox does not force you to create an account, if you look > carefully you will see a "Continue to view" link at the bottom of that > pop-up. > > Here's what it boots into: > > > VAX/VMS Version V3.0 26-APR-1982 16:21 > > > PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY HH:MM) 21-MAR-2020 11:58 > %JBC-I-NEWQUEUE, new queue file created %OPCOM, 21-MAR-2020 > 11:58:34.51, logfile initialized by operator OPA0 > logfile is SYS$MANAGER:OPERATOR.LOG > Login quotas - Interactive limit=64, Current interactive value=0 > SYSTEM job terminated at 21-MAR-2020 11:58:39.91 > > Username: SYSTEM > Password: > Welcome to VAX/VMS version V3.0 $ $ > > Grab it from https://bit.ly/vaxvms30 > > Regards, > Supratim > > -- > Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT > 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W > QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet > >

6 years, 1 month

VAX/VMS 3.0 Distribution Available for Download

by supratim＠riseup.net

John Dundas' distribution of VAX/VMS version 3.0 (April 1982) can now be downloaded from my Dropbox. The SYSTEM password is MANAGER. Note: Dropbox does not force you to create an account, if you look carefully you will see a "Continue to view" link at the bottom of that pop-up. Here's what it boots into: ? VAX/VMS Version V3.0 26-APR-1982 16:21 PLEASE ENTER DATE AND TIME (DD-MMM-YYYY? HH:MM) 21-MAR-2020 11:58 %JBC-I-NEWQUEUE, new queue file created %OPCOM, 21-MAR-2020 11:58:34.51, logfile initialized by operator OPA0 ??????? logfile is SYS$MANAGER:OPERATOR.LOG ? Login quotas - Interactive limit=64, Current interactive value=0 ? SYSTEM?????? job terminated at 21-MAR-2020 11:58:39.91 Username: SYSTEM Password: ??????? Welcome to VAX/VMS version V3.0 $ $ Grab it from https://bit.ly/vaxvms30 Regards, Supratim -- Supratim Sanyal, W1XMT 39.19151 N, 77.23432 W QCOCAL::SANYAL via HECnet

6 years, 1 month

SS Voyager: DC / DC Board

by salgernon＠me.com

I?ve been rehabilitating a SparcStation Voyager when I get time (of which I seem to have some now). The display did work off and on but doesn?t show anything now. As per the troubleshooting docs, I check the DC/DC board voltages but the service manual (from oracle!) has wire colors that bear no resemblance to my board. I found a pin that starts out at 12v but decays fairly quickly. Does anyone know if the pin3=12v, 4=5v, 5=5v, 6,7,8=gnd and 9=3.3 from the manual is correct? This one voltage that drops to zero after initially showing 12v - is that a reasonable symptom for a bad power supply? Is that kind of thing fixable? I don?t expect I?ll be able to find a replacement board. I don?t see any blown capacitors or expressed smoke. I?m not sure how the pin counting is supposed to go for this 10 pin molex power connector. The female side on the main board looks from the top like: OOOOO OOOOO \-/ Where the little thing at the bottom is the locking tab. The power board itself has a line of wires coming out, and they are numbered 1-11 with #10 not connected. But again, the color of those wires don?t seem to bear any resemblance to the manual. On the off chance: anybody have a spare DC/DC converter for a Sparcstation Voyager that they want to unload cheap? Part number is, I think 300-1234. Cheers, ?sma

6 years, 1 month

stuff for sale - recent move

by joezatarski＠gmail.com

Hello Everyone, I recently moved and just got my storage unit of stuff transported to the new house. I'm starting to go through it all because I know there's a good mixture of stuff I want and stuff I don't want but may be useful to someone else. I've started inventorying a lot of the stuff I'd like to pass on here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19vhF-o6vx9g7l-D8cvLJ5OPJzpdmU9PTTkn… I'm not looking to get much out of any of this, pretty much just recover whatever I paid for it plus effort for shipping (generally should be 50% or less ebay value, plus cost of shipping). Alternatively, I'm in the west suburbs of chicago if anyone local wants to pick something up. Quick run down of what I've got posted so far: -a couple DEC Alpha items (RAM and SCSI caddy stuff, possibly a couple drives later) -HP jetdirects for laserjet 4/5 (standalone to come later) -a KVM or two (more to come) -Mac network cards (nubus and one for IIsi or SE/30) as well as a couple other accessories (Dayna Mini Etherprint, AAUI transceiver, more accessories to come) -misc cables/adapters, if you have something specific in mind, let me know -PSU - mostly just some random ATX PSUs -a few telephone accessories (more to come) -ISA, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe cards (network, video, SCSI, FC) -possibly notable, Compaq ELSA GLoria Synergy graphics cards for Alpha PWS? If anyone has further questions, wants pics, more description, testing of item before sale, etc. feel free to contact me on or off list (if on list, please CC me, I'll see it quicker) or on Freenode IRC (nick is joe_z). As I recently moved, I don't have 24/7 internet available as of right now, but once I do I'll have a bouncer on IRC 24/7. Best Regards, Joe Z

6 years, 1 month

SWTPC SuperClock II board

by kylevowen＠gmail.com

In the midst of cleaning up, I came across this board. Can't seem to find any info online about it. There's another board from another company, not SWTPC, with the same name?apparently a timekeeping board for an Apple II. https://imgur.com/a/j8pyqMZ I assume this is a way to generate a composite video signal with the current time displayed? Anyone have schematics or a parts list? Thanks, and stay healthy! Kyle

6 years, 1 month

soviet resistor identification help and maybe lamps?

by tdk.knight＠gmail.com

trying to identify these soviet resistors anyone familiar with how they marked them i see 620 on these ones for the panel bulbs https://www.flickr.com/photos/1ajs/49633358106/in/dateposted-public/ want to test all the lamps with power but i dont know where to start with testing. i see markings for 220V on the power feed plug https://www.flickr.com/photos/1ajs/49621260392/in/dateposted-public/ bulbs https://www.flickr.com/photos/1ajs/49623473996/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/1ajs/49623475146/in/dateposted-public/

6 years, 1 month

NetBSD on a VAX 3100 (DV-31AT1-A)

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi All With the upcoming demise of VMS/VAX I thought I might give NetBSD/vax a try. Downloading a bootable image and burning it onto a CD was not a problem. On the 3100 with attached RRD42 and SCSI drive RZ26l the CD duly booted ito the NetBSD install menu. All of versions 7,8 and 9. failed after partitioning at the point where the system is copied to the hard disk. Has anybody successfuly installed NetBSD on a VAX.? If which version on which VAX Rod Smallwood --

6 years, 1 month

NetBSD on a VAX 3100

by commodorejohn＠gmail.com

I have it running on a MicroVAX 3100/90, but I can't for the life of me remember what version it is (current was 7-ish when I set it up, but I may have had to drop back to an earlier version.) I'll have to check when I have a chance. It's definitely not a speed demon, but it works reasonably well. OpenBSD on the other hand was utterly unusable; it took minutes just to respond to input over the serial port.

6 years, 1 month

MSV11-Q info and interesting observation

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> It includes a table which says which chip each bit in the memory is > stored in Oh, there's an entry (well, actually two) missing from the table, which is the parity bits (2; byte parity); I'll work them out and add them. (I know, by elimination, which two columns of chips are the parity bits; I just don't know which is for the high byte, and which for the low.) The flippping documentation doesn't say whether it's even or odd parity, though! I'm assuming odd (which seems to be the usual: probably so that totally failed memory - all 0's - generates an error), but now that I think about it, it should be pretty easy to work out. I'll just store a '0' word, and looking at either parity bit should give me whether it's using even/odd; storing '-1' should confirm. Then I can do byte writes to work out which chips the high/low parity bits are in. I'm assuming the DEC memory diagnostics (for people using them, not their own) will call out parity failures, and high/low, so people will know which chips to replace. Noel

6 years, 1 month

NetBSD on a VAX 3100

by david＠thecoolbears.org

Not exactly the same thing, but I've run several different versions of NetBSD on both a real 3900 and on SIMH. I have not tried current, but I have tried the 3 series, the 4 series and the 5 series - all seem to work well. In this context, "well" is defined as (in order of decreasing importance): The ability to run colossal cave adventure (the 350 point version) The ability to boot into multi-user The ability to TELNET to remote hosts, e.g., oath.com The ability to TELNET to local hosts The ability to run "vi" The ability to compile/link/run "hello.c" I have not tried to recompile the kernel I have not tried to compile other more obscure/exotic, but less useful operating systems like emacs The only problem I've come across is that the hash function on passwords is VERY slow on the new versions of netbsd (> the 3 series).

6 years, 1 month

MSV11-Q info and interesting observation

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So, a while back someone had a broken MSV11-Q QBUS memory card, and needed info on them. I said I'd provide same, but then got distracted. Well, I finally got to it, and it's been added to the CHW page for them: https://gunkies.org/wiki/MSV11-Q_QBUS_memory It includes a table which says which chip each bit in the memory is stored in (which is what one needs to fix one which is basically working, but has some bad bits). While working out that table, I ran into a hitch, which is a good part of why it took so long. The hitch, when solved, revealed something mildly interesting. The hitch was in my process for finding out which bit was stored in which chip. I whipped up a simple loop to store a word with a single '1' bit, and the rest 0's; I set that running, and used a 'scope probe on the DIn pins to find out which column of chips held bit 0, etc. So far, so good. I then looked on the -Wr pin, to find out which row of chips held which banks. Not so good! There were pulses on -Wr for _all_ the banks, no matter which address I tried to write to. Eventually I worked out what was going on: when writing data, the MSV11-Q sends a 'write' signal to _all_ the banks, and selects the one to _actually_ use by use of the RAS signal. I'm not certain why DEC did this, but since there is no explicit 'read' signal on the DRAM chip, and likely the data outputs from all the banks are wire-OR'd together, use of RAS to select the desired bank works for read, and also for write. Has anyone else seen this trick used anywhere else? Noel

6 years, 1 month

Wangtek 5125ES End-of-Tape Sensor

by web＠loomcom.com

Hello all, This is probably a long-shot, but does anyone have any advice for testing the End-of-Tape sensor on a QIC drive? I've recently restored a Wangtek 5125ES (well, "restored" is a bit strong, I just replaced the capstan roller) and after about 5 tape passes, it completely lost its End-of-Tape sensor. I'm not entirely sure whether or not it's producing IR, pr of the sensors are dirty, or what. -Seth -- Seth Morabito Poulsbo, WA web at loomcom.com

6 years, 1 month

IBM chip cross reference list?

by mattislind＠gmail.com

I am helping a guy with a dead IBM 3279 terminal The PSU does not seem to work. But as usual it is impossible to find any schematic online for IBM stuff. Just interconnection diagram and high level drawings. Anyone? Now the PSU circuit seems to be quite simple with just one IC in it. A chip marked 4216092. https://i.imgur.com/WMe7DgU.jpg >From the look of mold I guess that the manufacturer is Texas Instruments. At least it matches very well with other TI chips manufactured in the same time frame. The rest is looking like a quite simple flyback mode PSU: A transformer with air gaps, no output filter inductors and one single power transistor. Is there a cross reference list available for IBM numbers to standard chips? It shouldn't be that hard to figure from the how it connected, though, since it is most likely a standard chip. It can be a TL494 or SG3524 perhaps? /Mattis

6 years, 1 month

Make behavior on TOPS20 Panda distribution

by dave＠661.org

I've successfully managed to get a simulated TOPS20 environment going with networking. Now there's a new strange hitch: the behavior of make. Would someone please look at this and tell me what I'm doing wrong? For a simple Makefile, it works fine if I just type "make", but if I type "make <target>", I get the commands sent to the command line, but no responses. The display then stalls at the eighth source file. Strangely, if I scroll up in the xterm, it gets dragged back down as if more stuff is being printed. Just typing "make", I get this: @make cc -c buffer.c -o buffer.rel PANDA TOPS-20 Command processor 7.1(4453)-4 @cc -c buffer.c -o buffer.rel KCC: BUFFER <DAVE.FROTZ>BUFFER.PRE.3 <DAVE.FROTZ>BUFFER.FAI.3 FAIL: BUFFER @ @POP ... and so on until this: @POP cc -o dfrotz.exe buffer.rel err.rel fastme.rel files.rel getopt.rel ... more .rel files LINK: Loading @ @POP @ and we're done. dfrotz.exe is in the current directory and it works. Here's the strange behavior I can't explain: @make dumb cc -c buffer.c -o buffer.rel ?Unrecognized command - Does not match switch or keyword - "dumb" cc -c err.c -o err.rel cc -c fastme.c -o fastme.rel cc -c files.c -o files.rel cc -c getopt.c -o getopt.rel cc -c hotkey.c -o hotkey.rel cc -c input.c -o input.rel cc -c main.c -o main.rel The process stalls at this point, jerking back the terminal to the bottom if I scroll up. Hitting ^C once or repeatedly doesn't seem to do anything. Logging into the from a different terminal, I can see that no .rel files were generated from this operation. Typing "make foobar" results in this: @make foobar ?MAKE: Don't know how to make foobar perror() says: No such file or directory @ Amusingly, "make love" returns this classic reply: @make love Not war! ?MAKE: Don't know how to make love perror() says: No such file or directory @ Here's the Makefile: CC = cc NAME = frotz C = .c O = .rel E = .exe DFROTZ = d$(NAME)$(E) OBJ = buffer$(O) err$(O) fastme$(O) files$(O) getopt$(O) hotkey$(O) \ input$(O) main$(O) math$(O) missin$(O) object$(O) \ proces$(O) quetza$(O) random$(O) redire$(O) screen$(O) \ sound$(O) stream$(O) table$(O) text$(O) variab$(O) \ dblorb$(O) dinit$(O) dinput$(O) doutpu$(O) dpic$(O) dumb: $(DFROTZ) dfrotz: $(DFROTZ) $(DFROTZ): $(OBJ) $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(DFROTZ) $(OBJ) .c.rel: $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@ clean: delete *.rel delete *.exe .SUFFIXES: .exe .rel .c *.h This whole thing can be found at https://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/frotz/ in the tops20 branch. -- David Griffith dave at 661.org 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?

6 years, 1 month

DDCMP over serial lines in RSTS V10.1

by paulkoning＠comcast.net

I thought that I had sent a message to the list a few months ago showing the procedure to use the software DDCMP driver in RSTS V10.1. That's a standard feature, but undocumented and probably unsupported. It works well and interoperates with PyDECnet and with the DDCMP implementation in SIMH. Presumably it will talk to the software DDCMP in RSX, though I have not tried that. Attached are the instructions and the program mentioned. paul

6 years, 1 month

JOSS-II: good news and bad news

by lars＠nocrew.org

Hello, A small group of volunteers are working on restoring JOSS-II, the PDP-6 version, to a working state. We are typing in a program listing provided by the RAND corporation. The listing is the supervisor, which is a large part of the system. So far good news. The bad news is that it's not a complete system. The Computer History Museum seems to have additional program listings here: https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102734547 But they have not been scanned. They archvists are willing to let us see the collection, but no one of us lives near the museum. Is there anyone interested in this kind of thing that are willing to help out?

6 years, 1 month

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