test-drb

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101090 discussions

by mark.tapley＠swri.org

All, next thing to go from my pile is a set of Stylewriters. 2 ea. StyleWriter (1st generation) 2 ea. Color StyleWriter 1500 1 power supply for Stylewriter (condition very iffy) 1 power supply for Color StyleWriter 1500 (condition believed to be good) 1 spare circuit board (Stylewriter I believe, not certain) 3 spare ink cartridges (StyleWriter). Caveats: All printers believed to be operational when last stored. Some paper guides missing. I think I can plug in the CSW 1500?s and check power - on, at least. I *may* be able to plug in the SW?s and check power on, but I worry about that power supply (see below). I have not done any of the above, nor tried to plug a computer in to any of them, anytime this millennium. At least one ink cartridge I think has a short which breaks printers. All ink cartridges are likely bricks by now, having been stored (climate-controlled, but ?. ) for ~2 decades, so I?m pretty reluctant to try printing with any of them. The StyleWriter power supply was worked on by someone rather ham-fisted (CoughMeCough) and is somewhat the worse for wear - structural parts rattling around inside, etc. (Is there a good name for those things? *Way* too big to be a wall-wart - wall-growth? wall-turret? wall-obstacle?) All "Free to a Good Home", shipping from Texas, USA (Zip 78254) and I?ll split shipping costs with you (as before, I want space and I don?t want to add these to landfill). Partial orders filled in the order they come in. I have checked with Operator Headgap and tried to check with the Mac rescue place in Denver, not interested in the first place and no response in the second. Respond to (preferably) mtapley(at)swri.edu<http://swri.edu>, or phone below. I?ll be travelling the next couple of days, but will try to get back to you ASAP. - Mark 210-522-6025 office 210-379-4635 cell

6 years, 3 months

Another old phart trying to clean out the house

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 10:46 AM 1/13/2020, you wrote: >If there is anyone in the greater Chicago area (or anywhere else) who'd like to drive over and take away anything from a carton to a carload of old stuff, from docs to chips, please let me know. No inventory list, no shipping - just a walk-through and carry out. OK no inventory list, but how about pictures of piles? And "greater Chicago" is a very large area. Where are you in slightly more specific terms? - John

6 years, 3 months

Hello All - new member in the UK

by salikmrafiq＠gmail.com

I have sent the vendor of this item questions on ebay what you asked. It includes the keyboard x 2, mice x 2, CPU and monitor as well as those manuals. My offer was going to be ?350 = ?408 Vendor does not know which Solaris it is. So perhaps not familiar with Unix? It might be he inherited from a family member. Bit of a toy - only meant for a university project of mine which I did on a Sparcstation 2 to show my kids that Xbox was not the beginning of time with computers! LOL Thanks. Salik. -----Original Message----- From: Stefan Skoglund <stefan.skoglund at agj.net> Sent: 13 January 2020 03:59 To: Salik Rafiq <salikmrafiq at gmail.com> Subject: Re: Hello All - new member in the UK s?n 2020-01-12 klockan 21:12 +0000 skrev Salik Rafiq: > I have seen this one on eBay. > > https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sparcstation-5/192930718968?hash=item2ceb91 > 24f8:g:VZ0AAOSwYbpc7EhK > > What do you think about the price. It seems to be booting and running > with Solaris. > > Salik. > Is it a plain SS5 (those two SS10s was upgraded a fair/very bit) ? Compared with them (the two SS10 in Germany) this one is slower, but it is in the UK and probably close to you and it isn't heavy so the whole system and the kbd will fit inside a bag so it's a nice but somewhat expensive amusement/reason (and a bit better than that) to sit on the train a few hours. It is SCA-2 equipped so it is a fair bit easier getting disks for it. Pitty, i wonder if the machine (SS5) has the builtin flex disk and the cd-rom ? The seller didn't include photo of the right side and no word about the CPU (or photos of the inside) but it boots ! Is the IDPROM replaced ??? The battery in the original one is probably toast so but less of a problem. Still that 5 is from 1995 or so and the SS10s 1993 or so but the CPUs (the machines in germany) is a little bit newer but 500 pound vs 400 euro ??? If i went and bough one of the machines in germany - the difference is so large that if i took 150 pound or so to pay for fuel, driving to them to pick up them and then home - that would even up (i'm about 9 hour by car from them.) How is the SS5 equipped (if it is a machine with internal floppy and cdrom) and with the fact that it is SCA-2 and it boots, well then it looks better. Stefan N S

6 years, 3 months

Transformer Fault in a PSU?

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

The PSU in my VAXmate failed recently and I think I have found a problem with one of the windings on the transformer not ringing when I test it with a ringing tester. The technical description of the VAXmate says that one winding is operated in flyback mode and I wonder if that has any bearing on the ringing test. Also, one of the pins appears not to be connected to anything else, so possibly a broken (melted?) wire. Can anyone help with the following questions: Does the fact that one winding is operated in flyback mode have any bearing on the ringing test? Can a transformer fail with a bad smell with no outward sign of damage? Can this transformer be replaced (see picture in blog)? - I suspect not unless I find a donor PSU. Where should I look for a possible cause of the transformer to fail (if indeed it has failed?). I have posted more details here: https://robs-old-computers.com/2020/01/12/possible-cause-of-vaxmate-h7270-ps u-failure/ Thanks Rob

6 years, 3 months

SWTPC 6800 and Percom Floppy Controller

by deramp5113＠yahoo.com

I?m restoring a SWTPC 6800 that includes the Percom LFD-400 floppy controller. This controller goes on the SS-50 bus instead of the SS-30 bus where the SWTPC controllers installed. The standard Percom MiniDOS PROM is installed, and the other two PROM sockets have a third party extension called ?Minidisk+?. This was made by a company called Cer-Comp. These PROMs are instead of Percom?s own ?MiniDOS PlusX (MPX) PROM. I?ve got the system working, and I can use Minidisk+ to save and load files, but I know I?m missing some nuances of command parameters. I don?t have any sort of documentation for Minidisk+, so before I go figure it out by disassembling the PROMs, does anyone have any sort of documentation for Minidisk+ by Cer-Comp for the Percom LFD-400 floppy disk controller? Also, I?d like to burn the MPX PROM as an option. Does anyone have the MPX PROM or the source code for MiniDOS PlusX? Mike

6 years, 3 months

Old Nokia/alfaskop 3270 terminal

by dave.g4ugm＠gmail.com

Folks, Can any one remember how to get an AlfaSkop terminal into local setup mode> Dave Wade G4UGM & EA7KAE

6 years, 3 months

Anyone have any hardware docs on a Hyundai Super LT-3 80286 laptop?

by peter.veprek＠gmail.com

Hello, I've got a vintage Hyundai Super LT-3 80286 laptop, I just fixed the problem with CMOS battery but I'm unable to find any information about HDD settings. When I go to BIOS, there are 2 possible disk positions but I don't know which one to use and what settings I should choose. I'd like to ask you to let me know how to set this up. You also wrote in you post that you're goint to experiment with the switches which are right below the left bottom corner. If you got any news regarding these, I would appreciate it. Thank you in advance for your help. Regards, Peter Veprek

6 years, 3 months

Info / packs for Amcodyne 7110 "Arapahoe" drive?

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- Got one of these: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/amcodyne/7110/Arapahoe_7110_Brochure_Nov84.pdf sans power supply and packs. I'm guessing that these packs were specific to this drive and not any sort of standard, and that tracking one down is going to require quite a bit of luck. Figured I'd start here :). Also looking for technical info (pinouts for the power connector would be a good start...) Thanks as always, Josh

6 years, 3 months

Pro-380 power supply

by paulkoning＠comcast.net

I have a Pro-380 with an H7862-C power supply. Recently the power supply input filter (where the cord plugs in) shorted out, causing melted filter guts to leak out of the case and put a big smoke cloud in the room. Fortunately I have a spare, but it's an H7862 (not -C). I'm planning to replace the failed input filter, but in the meantime: does anyone know what the difference is between the two versions? Is it just a design tweak, or does the -C have different specs (like higher current ratings)? The replacement came out of a Pro-350 component set. paul

6 years, 3 months

3M third-party replacement flex-print cables

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I started going through my cable sets and put a few up on eBay this morning.

6 years, 3 months

Motorola app notes (Al Kossow)

by ruppert＠seism.com

Al, I have the original Motorola paper version of AN1123. I?m happily to scan it for you. I have a pretty complete set from an139 into the 1100s if there are others you need. Regards, Stan Ruppert

6 years, 3 months

RL02 head gain adjustment: Limits?

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

So in the continuing quest of fixing my second RL02 I replaced the heads and found the drive was slow and would generate about 80 block errors on a pack where my reference RL02 drive would never generate more than 10. After doing a positional radial check (fine) and a head alignment check (head 0 and 1 were way off from each other and head 0 was on a crest of the stepper motor (the part where you are between steps, highly unstable). Adjusting that so head 0 and 1 were in a valley on the stepper motor (inherently stable) the drive was much quicker but still would generate about 80 errors. Odd. So on a lark I swapped the head amplifier module from the good drive to the suspect drive. Bingo, 10 errors. So the issue is in the head amplifier, maybe the voltage was too low. Next step was to check the read signal amplitude: Because I have a reference drive I decided to check the signal voltage at track 0 on the reference drive, then move the same pack to the problem drive and verify. On the reference drive track 0 has a signal value of a smidge below 1.5 volts on head 1. On my suspect drive the signal value was 1v. Adjusted it up to 1.5 volts and errors went down to 9. Not bad. Went up to 1.6 volts and errors went down to 6. Hm. So a question: Is it a problem to adjust the read amplitude up, and if so how far can you go. The manual says 2.25, is there a benefit of running up that high? More important, does adjusting the read amplitude also change the write current through the heads? That could result in a pack that may be readable, but will be a mess when written to. What would be nice would be to have a blue amplitude reference pack, but I don't have one of those. Also I haven't tried any other packs in the suspect drive, but maybe I should adjust the amplitude in my reference drive as well. Thoughts? C (All readings done with a tektronix scope. I haven't checked the calibration in awhile, but it should be reasonably in sync)

6 years, 3 months

Commodore PET interfacing description.

by mark.tapley＠swri.org

All, Another thing that surfaced recently on my pile is a manila envelope containing a big photocopied stack of papers, with a title page saying: ? Interfacing the Commodore PET by Bill Durham, David Paul, and jim Wilman University of Arkansas. ? It?s got about 45 pages of text, interspersed with block diagrams showing chip in/out signals and snippets of BASIC code, then a repeat of all that, then a copy of the 6502 instruction set and copies of multiple data sheets for various integrated circuits. Thought I identified an interested party on the list, but no response to PM, so offering it to all. Free to a Good Home, usual terms, first response unless I hear from Al K. before I ship in which case he gets it instead. - Mark 210-522-6025 office 210-379-4635 cell

6 years, 3 months

Apple II DOS User's manual

by mark.tapley＠swri.org

All, next thing in my disposal pile. 3-ring binder, containing a repro copy of the subject line and a 5.25? floppy labelled ?Apple II DOS 3.3 System Master For Apple II, II+, and IIe?. computer is given away a while back, should have sent this with it. I bought it in 2006 and won?t use it. I think all reproductions, not originals. FTGH. - Mark 210-522-6025 office 210-379-4635 cell

6 years, 3 months

KCC and parenthesis in preprocessor lines

by dave＠661.org

I'm having some trouble getting Frotz 2.50 ported to TOPS20. Version 2.32 with dumb interface compiles fine under KCC. With 2.50, there are several preprocessor lines that include parentheses. For instance: #if UINT_MAX == (1UL<<32)-1UL typedef unsigned int uint32; #else typedef unsigned long uint32; #endif What's a better way of accomplishing this? -- 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, 3 months

Design flaw in the SCSI spec?

by lproven＠gmail.com

With his express permission, I'm forwarding a mail from a public list. I am interested in Gene's comments about the design of SCSI, but I don't know enough electronics to judge. I thought others here might. I have trimmed the mail a little to the relevant parts. -- Liam Proven - Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lproven at cix.co.uk - Google Mail/Hangouts/Plus: lproven at gmail.com Twitter/Facebook/Flickr: lproven - Skype/LinkedIn: liamproven UK: +44 7939-087884 - ?R (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053 ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Gene Heskett <gheskett at shentel.net> Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2020 at 17:29 Subject: Re: External Disk Intrusion To: <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> On Wednesday 08 January 2020 09:01:35 Liam Proven wrote: [...] > The thing is that actual SCSI cabling faults are very hard to > diagnose. We used to have internet jokes about them and the need for > sacrificial goats or chickens, but of particular colours for different > cable types, pentagram drawn in blood, holy candles, etc. > And all that pickityness can be laid at the feet of a bean counter between the interface card designer, who specified a $2.00 schotkey diode for buss isolation, which had a maximum voltage drop across it of perhaps .1 volts, and changed to have an 8 cent Si diode with .666 volts drop across it, thereby lowering the logic one voltage by .45 volts. Since the logic one at the logic chips inputs had to be at lease 2.2 volts, and the nearest set of termination resistors gave 3.0 volts when this buss isolation diode was replaced with a short, but with the cheap Si diode in there gave a logic one voltage closer to 2.4 most of the circuits noise margin was used up and considering that same bean counter crossed out the 5% terminators in favor of 20% tolerance, the result was predictable. The situation was much better when active terminations came into use, but by that time the scsi buss's reputation was doomed. But back in the day of the bottom 190 market tv stations were generating their on air gfx needs with a bank of Amiga computers, every scsi card that came in the door, if the engineer was worth his paycheck, that diode was replaced the first time the Amiga it was in, crashed. End of problem except for one Trump Card, where in traceing that card, I found the termpacks had been soldered in bass ackwards. It was easier to cut and jumper the supplies traces than to unsolder the packs and turn them around. So I did that in addition to swapping out the infamous diode. We, in a middle 160's market, were the first to put our news on the air, out as a webpage, which led to legal problems because CBS fussed about their copyrights, so we had to filter any web content that came from CBS, but that didn't last long after their bean counters discovered there was money to be made. That was all driven by ARexx and delivered by dialup from that Amiga in those Jurrasic (in web time) days. Who am I to criticise the makers of that stuff? I have an 8th grade diploma, but I am also a CET. Look that up if you care. Cheers, Gene Heskett -- "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable. - Louis D. Brandeis Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> -- ubuntu-users mailing list ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

6 years, 3 months

SWTPC 6800 and Percom Floppy Controller

by w9gb＠icloud.com

Mike - Cer-Comp 5566 Ricochet Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89110 (702) 452-0632 William E. Vergona wrote firmware on those two (2), 2708 ROMs. He later (1980s) worked with Tandy (Coco-3) Color Computer products. == ?68 Journal, May 1980 (Back to Future, 40 years later) MiniDisk+ DOS , Pages 11 - 13 http://www.swtpcemu.com/swtpc/68MJArchive/V02N05_May1980.pdf Have you contacted Bob Applegate (Corsham Tech)? https://www.corshamtech.com/ss-50-faqs/ He might be aware of source from his SS-50 clients and contacts. Bob reopened his business (Corsham) three weeks ago, for a period of time. I did not see him at VCF Midwest, due to his health issues. https://www.corshamtech.com/back-in-business-for-now/ Greg Chicago == From: Mike Douglas <deramp5113 at yahoo.com> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: SWTPC 6800 and Percom Floppy Controller I?m restoring a SWTPC 6800 that includes the Percom LFD-400 floppy controller. This controller goes on the SS-50 bus instead of the SS-30 bus where the SWTPC controllers installed. The standard Percom MiniDOS PROM is installed, and the other two PROM sockets have a third party extension called ?Minidisk+?. This was made by a company called Cer-Comp. These PROMs are instead of Percom?s own ?MiniDOS PlusX (MPX) PROM. I?ve got the system working, and I can use Minidisk+ to save and load files, but I know I?m missing some nuances of command parameters. I don?t have any sort of documentation for Minidisk+, so before I go figure it out by disassembling the PROMs, does anyone have any sort of documentation for Minidisk+ by Cer-Comp for the Percom LFD-400 floppy disk controller? Also, I?d like to burn the MPX PROM as an option. Does anyone have the MPX PROM or the source code for MiniDOS PlusX? Mike

6 years, 3 months

cctalk Digest, Vol 64, Issue 3

by technoid6502＠gmail.com

On Fri, 2020-01-03 at 12:00 -0600, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > On 1/2/2020 1:35 PM, Cameron Kaiser via cctalk wrote: > > > > Anyone done anything with Netware *for PowerPC*? Allegedly > > > > there was > > > > some attempt at Apple to put it on what later became the > > > > Network Servers > > > > (the codename was apparently "Wormhole"). > > > I know the people who were working in it (based on Portable > > > NetWare) > > > AFAIK it never shipped. > > Was this based on the Cygnus PowerPC port, or was it Apple- > > specific? > > > Sun did a power? PC? port I think paid for by IBM, which would have > run > on both the open Apple servers that briefly existed, and on IBM PPC > systems. > > A lot of odd PPC work happened in a group a friend worked for in > Austin > TX, but not sure if they did Netware work there.? There was a lot of > OS2 > work there as well, but that's off track a bit more. > > thanks > Jim I was lead tech at a small computer company in Asheville, NC. in those days. I ran OS/2 from version 2 in the early 90's to Ecomstation in the early 2000's. Does Talingent Pink sound familiar? OS/2 was ported to powerPC, and so was Netware iirc. The field was quite busy with hopeful Microsoft killers. OS/2 was to be morphed into a cross-platform o/s, to wean folks from dos/x86..... Then PPC kills the x86 and we all get a decent os. That was the plan anyway. I never saw OS2 for PPC or Netware for OS/2, thought I know both to have shipped. Jeff

6 years, 3 months

Sperry SP-425-08 Display - Datasheet?

by anders.k.nelson＠gmail.com

Hi all, I snagged one of these Nixie-like displays (from a calculator I assume) and I'd like to light it up. Does anyone know where I might find the datasheet for it? Google hasn't turned up anything. https://www.ebay.com/itm/264110638970 Any help is appreciated! -- Anders Nelson +1 (517) 775-6129 www.erogear.com

6 years, 3 months

Priam 3450/7050 schematic wanted (Priam interface)

by spacewar＠gmail.com

Bitsavers has a schematic of the ANSI interface version of the Priam 3450/7050 eight-inch hard drives, but does anyone happen to have the schematics of the "normal" version (Priam interface, as opposed to SMD or ANSI)?

6 years, 3 months

Motorola app notes (Al Kossow)

by evanlinwood＠hotmail.com

> did anyone copy the moto app notes that were once at > http://www.shrubbery.net/~heas/willem/PDF/Motorola/apnoteindex.html ? some of them are available at: http://archive.retro.co.za/archive/Motorola%20Appnotes/ plus a few more on this level: http://archive.retro.co.za/archive/

6 years, 3 months

Hello All - new member in the UK

by salikmrafiq＠gmail.com

Hello all, a new member here. I?m in the UK where I?ve lived for 17 years now. Before that I lived in Canada. I got my computer bug as a kid playing with VIC20, TRS-80, APPLE ][ and a mainframe. Presently I work as a .Net programmer mainly doing ASP.Net. Most of the old hardware I had stopped working for one reason or another and was binned ? my Dad didn?t like clutter. So I?m surrounded by laptops and a couple of older machines which used to run the network in the office. I?ve started looking around for some vintage machines that I used at Uni. Sparcstation, NeXT Cube are the ones I used the most. One machine that I would very much like to have is a SUN Sparcstation as I?ve some old projects that I did at university which I?d like to carry on working on (also to show my kids what I did at Uni) If anyone on here is in the UK and has a Sparcstation 1,2,4,5 I?d be interested. If it has the ?? drive than I?d be interested in that too. SunOS would be OK as that?s what I used. I am tempted in a NeXT but my project used X11 and a library called InterViews which I think will only work on X. Maybe someone can clarify that. Anyway, enjoying reading the posts and happy to have found you. Salik.

6 years, 3 months

TU55 / TC01

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I just listed one of my TU55s on eBay I have a second one available in a rack with a TC01 avalilable for pickup in Fremont, CA that I'm accepting offers on.

6 years, 3 months

Vintage computing spots in Chicago?

by barythrin＠gmail.com

I'll be in Chicago for a week soon for a work event. Limited time for myself but I'll have some time Sunday to maybe Uber around. Any suggestions or cool spots for a computer collector to hit? I see a museum of broadcast communications is close to where I'll be which may be neat. Not sure if there are any used stores that might have vintage computers but always willing to try.

6 years, 3 months

Lars Hamrén / Computer Automation Museum Project

by aek＠bitsavers.org

anyone know what happened to this? the last sign of the web site was in 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100314165117/http://www.sdu.se:80/computer-au… someone just asked about some floppies that I had archived in 2008, and noticed most of the CA stuff on the web has vanished

6 years, 3 months

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