- test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org - classiccmp.org

by jhfinepw4z＠compsys.to

Does anyone have any of these Qbus boards that I can buy? They have a TOY that has a window of 100 years. Sincerely yours, Jerome Fine -- If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the 'at' with the four digits of the current year.

23 years, 7 months

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Wanted: RA81/RA82 Disk Platter

by classiccmp＠crash.com

> I've got one, but it's occupying a place of honor in my collection. > The rest are sitting in my RA-82, which I'm not about to take apart. > These things are hard to come by, [...] About twelve years ago a friend and I were poking around MITs Surplus Property Office. Amongst all the cool "junque" was a pair of RP06 drives and some disk packs. With apologies now to the poor sods wanting an RP06 to hook up to their KS10 or something, I bought one of the disk packs for $5 or something and took it back to the office. I think I was able to deconstruct the whole thing with just hand tools. Resulted in a nice supply of 14" platters for gifts and wall art. In fact just yesterday I was using one of those platters to explain to someone what went on inside the Seagate ST-4051 she was holding, and to show the progression of storage technology... If you really needed a 14" platter for display, look around for a bad RL01/02 disk pack, there's one platter in each pack. Much easier than trying to bust open an HDA... --Steve.

23 years, 7 months

2
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Floating Point EPU for Z8000

by dwightk.elvey＠amd.com

Hi All Does anyone have any of the software information on the Z8000 Floating Point EPU? The CP/M-8000 that I've been working on uses an emulated EPU ( extended processing unit ). It also has code to run with a real EPU. This is all fine and dandy except I have no information on what is needed >from a software point of view. I need a model of what the real EPU does. The assembler I have includes the fp instructions but the docs don't mention how they are used. I suppose I could look to see how the C compiler uses them and look at the emulation code but it would be a lot easier with a users manual. Heck, I'm not even sure they actually made the part. Thanks Dwight

23 years, 7 months

1
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Value of classic computers

by mikeford＠socal.rr.com

>I _very recently_ had the unfortunate experience in having to deal with a >"collector" who seems to fit your description of the second group. I >invited the "collector" along on a rescue of a fair number of systems, >with a prior understanding that I'd get first pick, but he showed up >unannounced (didn't call ahead) and early (he got there before I had I used to go to a scrap yard where a good half dozen people would be lined up waiting for the gate to open, and people would literally run to the back to see the pallets of new stuff and stake out the stuff they wanted. Personality flaws were often revealed. I'm not shy, when I take somebody to a source of goodies, I lay out ground rules, and if they aren't accepted and followed, they don't get access anymore if I can manage it. OTOH this is my hobby, and I recognize for many people this is what puts food on the table and pays the rent. OTOOH I know a couple guys who absolutely refuse to reveal any sources of any kind, AND who often make hardline arrangements with all their sources, ie I accidently find a place on my own, but when I make an offer for some stuff I find out all deals get run past the person I know. I so detest this practice that I do try not to emulate it.

23 years, 7 months

1
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Apple /// help needed

by tiziano.garuti＠tin.it

Hi to everybody. I am in trouble with my beatiful Apple ///, the internal floppy drive is dead. I think that this is a mechanical problem, but I am not sure. Is there a test to check the hardware of the drive ? Another problem is with the Profile drive. I can get the files list via System utilities, but at the end of the list, I get a message like: "Warning: structure directory corrupted". Is there a way to fix this problem? Booting from Business Basic, the "catalog .profile" command is show in a window of 3 or 4 chr width! Why? Perhaps is the same problem with the corrupted directory. Any help will be apreciated :-) Bye Tiziano

23 years, 7 months

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Wanted: RA81/RA82 Disk Platter

by xds_sigma7＠hotmail.com

I've opened bad ones with water pump pliers, just firmly grip the weirdo bolts and apply mucho force, and they turn. BTW the screws/bolts/whatever they are appear to be copper... And no, I don't have any platters, I took em to the scrapyard a while ago. Will J _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

23 years, 7 months

1
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SOL-20 / eBay prices

by glenslick＠hotmail.com

What does PT / non-PT mean in this context? >From: Benedict Bridgewater <benb(a)Basit.COM> >Reply-To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org >To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org >Subject: SOL-20 / eBay prices >Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2002 13:24:41 -0500 (EST) > >Actually there's two SOL's currently on eBay. > >The 2nd one is currently "only" $500 or so: > >http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2071406461 > >The difference being that it has no documentation (which I suspect accounts >for >the price difference), and also it only has a single card in it - a non-PT >64K >memory card (I asked the seller if it was PT or not). > >In recent history SOL's have sold for anywhere from $490 to $2500! > >Documentation also seems to be what has so far driven this Altair to $4K: > >http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2072033128 > >Ben _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

23 years, 7 months

2
1
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Dying VaxStation 4000 VLC - help?

by mtapley＠swri.edu

On disassembly: Toth wrote: >First you'll want to remove lower portion of the plastic shell. There are >5 screws on the bottom of the unit, and two clips on the front edge. Figured out how to release those. Stuff a flat-head screwdriver blade in >from the bottom side, so it slides between the plastic clip and the metal tab it locks over. That way it's pretty easy to lever the plastic *only* far enough to disengage. >Once the graphics board is out, there are 3 more phillips screws at the >back edge of the mainboard. The plastic clips pull up to release, but with >the bottom shell off, you can use something to push them up from the >underside. That works. I used the point of needle-nosed pliers as a pin-driver (set in place, hold the handles, use the other hand to hammer on the one holding the pliers). Once the pins were driven mostly out, the whole clip could be wriggled out with not too much trouble. I still hate those clips. What do they do that a screw and lockwasher wouldn't do better? Big help! Thanks! I had the motherboard out in my hands last night, so I'm ready to go to work desoldering either the comparator or the resistors. Anyone have any educated guesses which one to try first? - Mark

23 years, 7 months

2
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PDP 11/45 available in the Chicago area

by uban＠ubanproductions.com

Hi All, A dealer who usually sells on ebay as RELCOMSER has just gotten an 11/45 in and has offered it to me and a couple of others before putting it up on ebay. He says that he wants $1000 or more for it, but in todays economy, who knows. I do not have any interest in this and would bargain with him for it myself, but my collection already includes an 11/45 and my wife would kill me. Here are details: His name et al: Patrick Lind, Reliable Computer Services Inc., 815-838-0134 His email: RELCOMSER(a)aol.com He is in the Chicago area (Lockport, IL) The specifics: One H960 with 11/45 including the following boards: M787, M8114, All M81?? so 15,12,13,00,01,02,03,04,05,06,08,07,09. M7800, M792-YD, M7800 Memory by Digital Pathways Inc. RVM 128K bds -2- boards. Also -1- RL02 in the same cabinet. Had -2- power supplies. Second H960 with a BAll-K & RL02 NOTE! The front panel has 6 of the plastic switch paddles broken off due to careless moving. He has also plugged it in, but says that he has no way of testing it. I know another guy who has a number of 11/70 front panels, some of which are only useful for parts, so these can be replaced. He made this offer to me, so I assume it applies to others: "We will sell one or both of the H960 cabinets. One has the 11/45 & RL02 with RL02K-DC pak One has a BAll-K & RL02 There are -2- H742-A power suplies with H744, H745, H7441regulators. We will supply -1- each of these regulators as good spares. Because of the age of this we are selling it AS IS, No Warranty. " He sent me some pics, which I will be happy to forward to anyone who is interested, or you can just send him some email. Again. I have no vested interest in this deal and I wish that I had the time, room, and money to pick it up myself. The 11/45 is one of my favorite machines. --tom

23 years, 7 months

5
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Looking for TRS-80 Models I to IV (including spares & accessories)

by glyncoedcompschool＠btinternet.com

Hi I live in the UK and am looking for TRS-80 models I to IV (including spares and accessories). If you're fed up of Zork and want some extra cash then email me with details of what you have, the condition it's in, the price you are looking for and where you live. I would prefer UK based to save on shipping costs but will consider anywhere. Regards John glyncoedcompschool(a)btinternet.com

23 years, 7 months

1
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Dying VaxStation 4000 VLC - help?

by mtapley＠swri.edu

Tothwolf asks: >Are the two fans on the side of the power supply running properly? Both still seem to be. However, most of the tests I'm talking about are run with the lid off, and a small floor fan set up to blow over the mainboard (in the same direction as the small cooling fans). I think the airflow rate >from this is much higher than the cooling fans would generate, but may not be in the right areas. >What type of hard drive do you have in the system? 1-Gig RZ26L. >Your mainboard may have a bad solder joint somewhere near the comparator, >which would explain the thermal issue. That tends to be the worst type of >problem to pinpoint too. It would, but unless the comparator or one of the voltage-divider resistors is intermittent, I'm at a loss to explain the varying voltage on the comparator input. I have physically shoved back and forth on all 3 components while it was running, no effect. Also I can't *see* any bad solder joint, but then I can barely see the two resistors anyway. >First you'll want to remove lower portion of the plastic shell. There are >5 screws on the bottom of the unit, 5 holes, only two screws left in mine. I should probably get some more screws, when I get everything put back together. >and two clips on the front edge. I see them. The plastic has to deform a log way before it'll release, but I'll try it tonight. >Next you'll need to remove the graphics board, Yeah, that is tricky. Done it a couple times during earlier testing. The problem first appeared when I was first using the graphics board, so I blamed it. But I think it's working OK. At least for the moment, I'm doing all the testing with a VT320 on the MMJ console port, so I have to connect/disconnect less stuff when taking things apart. >Once the graphics board is out, there are 3 more phillips screws at the >back edge of the mainboard. The plastic clips pull up to release, but with >the bottom shell off, you can use something to push them up from the >underside. Ok, that's a big help. If I can get the shell off I'll try poking them out. >Certainly make sure they are discharged before you remove them, if you >decide to replace them after all ;) Ok. Short through a resistor for a minute or two? But I'm thinking right now the comparator is the first target for replace, followed by the SMD resistors if that doesn't do it. - Mark

23 years, 7 months

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Dying VaxStation 4000 VLC - help?

by mtapley＠swri.edu

>From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) >I rarely bet except on certainties :-) Yeah, me too. As you probably noted... >>> Now *I'll* bet - Tony wants to know what the comparator *inputs* are >>> connected to. ... >> >>I don;t think it's for overvoltage protection. I think this is where the >>PowerOK signal comes from. And it's triggering at the wrong time. So >>either the comparator is defective or there's a problem with the passive >>components areund it, or there's a PSU fault. >> >>How hard is it to reverse-engineer the schematic of the components around >>this comparator? Can't be _that_ complicated... Yup. a sure bet. :-) Complicated, probably not. Hard, yes. They are all surface-mount and near microscopic. For which reason, all numbers and letters quoted below may be wrong. Here's what I think I found: Comparator INV Input B and Input B connect to ground (zero Ohms to chassis). Comparator INV Input A connects to the middle pin (which points left) of a 3-pin device marked "88W". I couldn't find that the upper right pin connected to anything. The lower right pin connected to ground. That input stayed very steady at about 3.4 V. Comparator Input A connects to an orange device marked "6192" and a black device marked "1152". Both are 2-terminal surface-mount rectangles. The other end of the 6192 connects to ground. The other end of the 1152 connects to +5 (Red wire). That input *varies substantially and irregularly* It's at 4.2V and reasonably steady when the computer is running. It's at 2.9V, or wavering in between when the computer is hung. There may be *lots* of connections I missed. "Wavering" is what I see my needle do - for all I know, the voltage may be popping rapidly between the two values, with varying duty cycle. Here's what I think may be happening: 6192 and 1152 are voltage-dividing the +5V supply down to some intermediate value for the comparator. But either the resistors are flaky (do resistors *do* that?) or the comparator is intermittently drawing current, and throwing off the voltage-divider. Good so far? Any way to test those theories with my analog VOM? Should I order a new LM193 comparator chip instead of a pile of capacitors for my first soldering attempt on this machine? If I *do* need to pull the comparator, I'll need to take the mainboard out of the chassis. That'll mean removing 4 extremely nasty plastic rivet things. How do those suckers come out in such a way as to leave them intact? I wrestled with one for a while and got nowhere. >It can't do any harm provided the new capacitors are good, and you get >them the right way round (they are, of course, polarised.) I didn't make it to the electronics shop today - Kids' soccer game and wife's Newtonsday (sic?) shopping interfered. She promised to go for me Monday if I wanted. I explained to her what a "capacitor" is so that she could breeze in, look knowledgeable, and say "I'd like replacements for all the electrolytic capacitors on this board." She practiced it three or four times so she wouldn't stumble over "electrolytic capacitors". I also pointed at them, just for good measure. All that notwithstanding, the capacitors may get due process after all. - Mark

23 years, 7 months

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Giving Y'all first dibs....

by geoffr＠zipcon.net

I have a still shrink wrapped Windows 3.00 on 3.5" 720K disks box. Any interest?

23 years, 7 months

1
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Good haul

by xds_sigma7＠hotmail.com

Yesterday I went by the scrapyard, and found an HP 9825B, 9825T, and 3 HP 86s... Asked what they wanted for them, and they told me "oh we wouldn't charge you for those"... WOOHOO! But I need case parts and manuals and keycaps, plus none of them have interface cards in them.. But the 9825T, which is all I have powered up so far, WORKS! Will J _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

23 years, 7 months

5
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Dying VaxStation 4000 VLC - help?

by mtapley＠swri.edu

All, Just catching up on the digest. I think next time I beg for advice I'll take digest mode *off* first. The delay is frustrating. Tony was way ahead of me last night, but I didn't get the benefit of his advice until this morning. Tony D. said: >I will bet that >Red = +5V >Black = Gnd >Orange = +12V >Blue = -12V... You'd win, as far as I can tell with my meter, with the minor variations I've noted. >> Blue is one wire, and goes to appx. 12 V. when the system is on. > >I would think the last one is actually -12V ? Correct, typo on my part. >More intersting would be to >use a 'scope to look for noise (particularly spikes at the PSU switching >frequency). Such spikes can make a supply rail look to be too high on >some meters. Yeah. Sigh. What's a likely frequency for the PSU switching? Is my (primitive analog) VOM likely to yield any useful info if I set it to the "AC Voltage" ranges? >> M9124 >> LM393N >> QST > >Aha. A dual voltage comparator. This could be used to check if power is >OK, and to generate the reset signal as appropriate. I don't know the causality yet (failure causes comparator to switch, or comparator switching causes failure), but the comparator (at least output A) does switch when the failure appears. Output A is Pin 1 as you recalled and Output B Pin 7, thanks to Toth for the link to the data sheet. Now *I'll* bet - Tony wants to know what the comparator *inputs* are connected to. Tonight's work is cut out for me. But in any case, I'm still guessing the power supply is a likely culprit. It looks like the comparator is properly protecting the mainboard from an overvoltage on +5V or +3.3V. I don't know what's going on with +3.3 being referred to something other than ground. In either case, a lower +5V supply (= appropriate repair to the PSU) would solve the problem. Is replacing all of the PSU output electrolytic capacitors just on suspicion a good move? That's what I plan for the weekend. (Lucky for me capacitors are not entitled to due process.. :-) ) - Mark

23 years, 7 months

5
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[GreenKeys] Original meaning of ASCII codes (fwd)

by jpl15＠panix.com

Of possible interest to the List... ------------ Tear along dotted line ---------------------- From: jones(a)pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: ASCII control codes Date: 31 Aug 1995 19:37:58 GMT From article <4239uk$ko1(a)metro.ucc.su.OZ.AU>, by adrianw@cassius (Adrian Whichello): > Some are obviously still used for their original purpose (CR, LF, the > tabbing codes etc.) but what did ENQ, EM, SUB, FS, etc. do? Thanks, - - - here's a reply I posted a year ago in June - - - Subject: Re: original uses of ASCII control codes Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers References: <1994Jun02.064649.131411(a)ua1ix.ua.edu> To understand the original intent of the ASCII control codes, you have to think of teletypes, using paper tape, configured in a multidrop system with relay logic used to turn on or off individual teletypes in the bunch, and you have to remember that the designers were pretty smart and they anticipated future developments, but they also managed to include provisions for things that never happened. Here are the ASCII control characters, and a few others, with comments on how they were supposed to be used and how this relates to current popular uses: NAME HEX/CTL USE NULL 00 ^@ always ignored -- leader and trailer on paper tape systems was typically made of sequences of NULLs. SOH 01 ^A start of heading -- imagine a heading containing, for example, the address of the recipient. You could have relay logic that scans for SOH, then enables the print mechanism if the following character matches this station's address. In early documentation, this was called start of message. STX 02 ^B start of text -- if the heading matched, start printing with the following character. In early documentation, this was called end of address. ETX 03 ^C end of text -- now is a good time to stop printing. Your message might continue after this with a checksum or other administrative stuff. In early documentation, this was called end of message. The common use of control C as a kill character stems from this -- it indicates the end of your text addressed to some application. EOT 04 ^D end of transmission -- relay logic could decode this and, if there is a tape in the tape reader, it could begin transmitting its own message. ENQ 05 ^E enquire -- on receiving this, local relay logic would generate a response. In early documentation, this was called WRU or who are you. Teletypes had programmable response sequences that were encoded on a music box mechanism, and it was up to the customer to break plastic fingers off the drum to code how it responded to an ENQ. ACK 06 ^F acknowledge -- one possible response to ENQ. In early documentation, this was called RU or are you. BEL 07 ^G bell -- ring the bell in the terminal. Teletypes had real bells where most modern terminals have beepers of some kind. A sequence of BEL characters sent to a teletype sounded very much like a telephone ringing. BS 08 ^H backspace. HT 09 ^I horizontal tab. LF 0A ^J linefeed. VT 0B ^K vertical tab. FF 0C ^L formfeed -- page eject. CR 0D ^M carrage return -- on many mechanical devices, CR was slow. The sequence CR LF was always sent in that order so that the linefeed could be handled while the carriage was returning; a well adjusted Teletype could just finish the CR in this time (0.2 seconds), and a common sign that it was time to call the service man was that the first letter printed after a CR LF was printed "on the fly" on the way back to the margin. SO 0E ^N shift out -- if you've got a two-color ribbon, shift to the alternate color, usually red. There are obvious extensions of this to alternate character sets. SI 0F ^O shift in -- undo whatever SO does. For mysterious reasons that have no apparent connection to old or modern ASCII standards, DEC liked to use control O as a break character to suppress teletype output. DLE 10 ^P data link escape -- an escape character is generally a prefix for something else. DLE was expected to be used as a prefix on characters in the user data stream that might otherwise be interpreted as data link control characters, for example, flow control characters. In some early documentation, this was called DC0 or device control zero. DC1 11 ^Q device control 1 -- turn on the paper tape reader. In early documentation, this was called XON. DC2 12 ^R device control 2 -- turn on the paper tape punch. DC3 13 ^S device control 3 -- turn off the paper tape reader. In early documentation, this was called XOFF, The use of XON/XOFF (DC1/DC3) for flow control stems from their use to control the flow of data from the paper tape reader attached to a Teletype. DC4 14 ^T device control 4 -- turn off the paper tape punch. NAK 15 ^U negative acknowledge -- another possible response to ENQ. One flow control mechanism is to use ENQ to ask if the receiver has buffer space, and require the receiver to respond with either ACK (yes) or NAK (no). ENQ could also be used to enquire about whether a retransmission is required after sending a checksum. The popular use of control U to delete the current input line is only vaguely grounded in this definition. SYN 16 ^V synchronous idle -- if you're using a synchronous transmission protocol, and you have no data to send, you send SYN characters to keep the clocks synchronized. The receiver should ignore these, and the transmitter may have to insert them into the data stream once in a while. ETB 17 ^W end of transmission block -- used when a transmission must be broken into many blocks for some reason, for example, to place a checksum after each block. Early documentation called this logical end of media. CAN 18 ^X cancel -- take that back, what I just sent you is a mistake, ignore it. EM 19 ^Y end of medium -- there's nothing left on this reel of (paper) tape. SUB 1A ^Z substitute -- the next character is from an alternate character set. SUB X might be equivalent to SO X SI, or it might be an alternate mechanism for extending the character set. The common use of control Z as an end of file character has no obvious relation to the standard. ESC 1B ^[ escape -- the next character is to be interpreted as something other than text, for example, it might be an extended control character of some kind. FS 1C ^\ file separator -- useful if you have multiple logical files in one transmission. GS 1D ^] group separator -- useful if files are made of groups of records. RS 1E ^^ record separator -- COBOL anyone? US 1F ^_ unit separator -- are records made of units? ALT 7D } Some early teletypes had an ALT MODE key that generated this code instead of ESC. This was interpreted as an escape code, which was no problem when nobody had lower case printers, but with the advent of full 96 character ASCII, there were obvious compatability problems. PRE 7E ~ A few terminals had a PREFIX key that generated this code instead of ALT MODE, with all the same problems. DEL 7F delete -- remember, paper tape uses a hole to record each one and no hole to record each zero. DEL is all holes, so it can be punched over any other character to rub it out (on old teletypes, it was the RUB or RUB OUT key). If you mispunch a character, just back up the tape and overpunch it with a DEL. Software is expected to ignore DEL the same way it ignores NULL. ------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ GreenKeys mailing list GreenKeys(a)mailman.qth.net http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys

23 years, 7 months

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Wanted: RA81/RA82 Disk Platter

by bdwheele＠indiana.edu

Sort of off topic, but sort of not. My department is planning to have a roast of the former director and because he was a big user of our former VAX systems, some people think that mounting a disk platter would be a nice touch. Anyone have have an extra RA81/RA82 disk platter for free/cheap? Brian Wheeler bdwheele(a)indiana.edu

23 years, 7 months

7
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TI 99/4a (boxed) and TI Data Recorder available

by vcf＠siconic.com

A gentlement named Ed Crawson in Texas has a TI 99/4a available for sale. It is boxed and includes a TI data recorder, which is relatively uncommon. He is missing the manuals but is currently searching for them. According to the seller it is in like new condition, having been used only slightly. He also has the TI data recorder, which is fairly uncommon. He wants to sell it. I told him $35 + shipping for the whole lot would be about fair, but you can negotiate with him. His name is Ed and he can be reached at 210/655.6400. -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *

23 years, 7 months

2
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Zapping Laptop batteries

by lgwalker＠mts.net

This has come up before but I can't remember it being resolved. I often see suggestions for rejuvenating failed or dying laptop batteries using a hi-amp source to flash them and break down the built-up crystals. Most mention breaking the pack apart before doing this individually on each cell. Is this because each cell might have different resistances ? Most of my LT batteries no longer work anyway so it would be no big loss if it totalled them. Sending a dozen or so batteries into a rebuild place is a costeffective non-option and replacing the individual cells would still be costly. Lawrence lgwalker(a)mts.net bigwalk_ca(a)yahoo.com

23 years, 7 months

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VMS BBS software

by Qstieee＠aol.com

I think the people at the Retro-Computing Society of Rhode Island are doing that. See http://www.osfn.org/rcs/

23 years, 7 months

1
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BULL PR54 / GE 400

by Felix.Hammann＠t-online.de

Dear Sirs, my father started in the late 60's with BULL machines (tabulatrices imprimantes etc.) Later we had a GAMMA 10 and also the GE415 (wich is still built up in moment). In case you are interested in any spare parts, machines, sheets, documents etc please contact me. But i also like to ask you for your assistance. We bought a BULL PR54 some time ago and want to fix it to a PC. Unfortunately there is no description about the interface (level 6/66). Can you give us any information ? best regards, Felix Hammann Fabrikstrasse 6 67454 Hassloch phone +49 6324 3001 fax +49 6324 58543 sorry i had a wrong email adress to answer back in my mail

23 years, 7 months

2
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kaypro 2 boot disk.

by cb＠mythtech.net

>I need a boot disk for a kaypro 2. A freind gave me >boot disk for the II, but that didn't work. >Also I need a commodore pet for a display at a school, >dead or alive any model. Can the Kaypro 2 disks be copied without a Kaypro 2? I have some Kaypro 2 software, but it is already promised to someone else (just waiting for them to pick it up whenever they are next in the area). If they can safely be dupilcated with a PC, I can run off a copy while waiting (but unless this is a 100% safe thing, I don't want to do it, I don't want to risk screwing up the disks) -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

23 years, 7 months

4
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Zapping Laptop batteries

by mtapley＠swri.edu

>From: "Lawrence Walker" <lgwalker(a)mts.net> > > Thanks all. There's also a PD program called "deepdran.exe" (deepdrain) >which I can use to exercise the batteries after, if it's successfull. >Worth a try. There's a similar program for the early PowerPC Powerbooks. I had a really bad experience with it in my 3400. I took a couple of dead, drained, and on-the-shelf for years NiMH batteries. Charged one in the powerbook for a while (15 minutes or so) then tried this program on it. Battery ran down, Powerbook made out-of-power noises, turned off. Plugged in and reset, the battery charged up, no problem. (I'm using that battery now). The *other* battery, I figured I now knew what I was doing. I slapped it in, unplugged the powerbook immediately, and let it run down on the drain-dead program. About 10 seconds later, it made a weird buzzing, and went dead. Next time it powered up was after the power supply board got replaced. :-(. Exercise some caution. I don't know what happened - maybe the PS board got fried because the battery voltage went too low too fast? Maybe it was OK until I plugged it back in, at which point it fried trying to charge a too-dead battery too fast? Maybe there's a problem with a PS designed for Li-Ion batteries charging a NiMH battery (though it's supposed to be OK). I don't know, but I'm going to charge the other battery repeatedly in the external charger before I put it into the PB again. - Mark

23 years, 7 months

1
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SIMH software?

by jpl15＠panix.com

Well, having got the Simulated PDP11 running - my next untutored question is: sim> att rl ....filname??? sim> boot rl ....filename??? How does one get an OS loaded on the 'machine?' Cheers John

23 years, 7 months

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4
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SIMH software?

by Fred.van.Kempen＠microwalt.nl

> How does one get an OS loaded on the 'machine?' > attach mt0 c:/dist/ultrix.tap > attach rl0 c:/dsk/rl02-0.dsk /RL02 > attach rl1 c:/dsk/rl02-1.dsk /RL02 loads the devices (a magtape unit, and two RL02 disks), and > boot mt0 or > boot rl0 should do the trick by booting the desired device. --fred

23 years, 7 months

3
2
0 0

FA: Data General manuals, HP and Tektronix manuals, core memory, 3-axis acceleromer, Solaris

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

I'm trying to clean out some of the clutter before the holidays and I've put a ton of stuff on e-bay including some core memory, a programmer's panel (both end in an hour. these are from computers that were junked before I found them), DG manuals, HP 9845 manuals, Tektronix programmable calibration generator manual, a 3-axis accelerometer, Solaris manuals, conductivity meter, and two NICE stepper motor drivers including one that's made by NEAT for driving optical stages. <http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=rigdonj> Joe

23 years, 7 months

2
1
0 0

SIMH software?

by Fred.van.Kempen＠microwalt.nl

John, > > > How does one get an OS loaded on the 'machine?' > > > > > attach mt0 c:/dist/ultrix.tap > > > attach rl0 c:/dsk/rl02-0.dsk /RL02 > > > attach rl1 c:/dsk/rl02-1.dsk /RL02 > > The directory 'dsk', nor any files with the extent of '.dsk' do not > exist anywhere I can find them... are they supposed to come > with the SIMH > stuff? Did I not download the whole package? Is there a separate > 'software' section I didn't see? > > > Curious minds.... That was an example. You _do_ have to get the software images yourself, and install them somewhere. I myself keep "installation media" in the C:\DIST directory, and "disks" in C:\DSK. Everyone has their own system for that, I assume. Images of installation media are available from the archives, see http://simh.trailing-edge.com/ and the PUPS archive for some. --f

23 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Simple C compiler advice?

by jpl15＠panix.com

Okey-dokey. I have now got all the nice SIMH packages stashed neatly away on the Trusty Laptop. Obviously, they must be compiled. In terms of software, I am an appliance operator. I have had very minimal experience with C programming, mostly in the 'hello world' levels of complexity, and that years ago. Therefore, what would recommendations be for a simple, cheap/free, plain old C package that I could use to compile these simulators? I understand the basic idea behind the process, but it's been many years since I compiled anything, save for the tiny Fortran demo program in the RSX11M docs... I am not going to use it for 'real' programming, just to make a PDP-faux-11 on my Wintel Lap-Puter. T I A John

23 years, 7 months

5
5
0 0

Fw: Promoting Classic Computers [was Re: Chip with holes in it]

by gmphillips＠earthlink.net

----- Original Message ----- From: "John Galt" <gmphillips(a)earthlink.net> To: <cctech(a)classiccmp.org> Sent: Friday, November 15, 2002 11:08 PM Subject: Re: Promoting Classic Computers [was Re: Chip with holes in it] > I'm a chip collector and I would like to take a moment to defend my hobby. > > 1. Most chip collectors are very particular about protecting their chips. > We just don't > throw them in the bottom of a drawer like some "computer enthusiasts". > I could not > count the times that I've bought chips on EBAY auctions that were > displayed > loose in a coffee can from someone who had found them in grandpa's > shop. > Do you really think these chips are better off going in the trash than > into some > chip collectors collection? > > 2. Once a chip ends up in a chip collectors collection it's not gone from > the face > of the earth. It's carefully preserved for future generations. > > 3. The argument that a chip is better off inside a vintage computer is like > saying > a coin is better off in circulation serving its "intended" purpose than > in some > collectors collection. > > 4. Many of the chips that chip collectors pay alot of money for are "rare" > varieties > of "common" chips. For example, an Intel C8080 vs. C8080A. Vintage > computer enthusiasts don't "need" an Intel C8080. In fact, you would > probably > be better off with the more common and "improved" C8080A. > > 5. I think that alot of vintage computer enthusiasts think that chip > collectors are > out there busting up Altair 8800's with sledge hammers to get the chips > out of > them. That's simply not true. Chip collectors hang out on in the same > areas of EBAY that you do. We know full well what rare machines are > worth. > I'll assure you, chip collectors are not breaking up old machines for > chips. > > In fact, it's just the opposite. I know a number of vintage machines > that have > been "saved" by chip collectors because they recognized what they were. > > 6. There are FAR more chips than there are vintage computers. Without chip > collectors there would not be much of a market for all these chips. > Sure > you would be able to buy an C8008 for 1$ then but... You would also > have > people throwing the old chips in the trash because they were not worth > listing on EBAY. > > If you really want a supply of vintage chips for your vintage machines > in > 20-30 years then you should be glad that a C8008 brings $100 on EBAY > because of chip collectors. The reason you should be glad is because > as the > word gets out that the early chips are worth money, less of them will > end up > in the trash. > > 7. Chips collectors will often sell chips for LESS than you would pay for > them > from a parts distributor. Also, many distributors will not sell small > quantities. > I have sold spare chips out of my collection to vintage computer > enthusiasts. > Most collectors have "spares" that they acquire for trading. If you > need a > particular chip, changes are good that you can get one from a collector > if > you offer the collector some other chip that you have several of. > > 8. There's only a handful of "serious" collectors who are willing to pay > $500-$1000 for rare versions of early chips. Most chip > collectors collect 186's, 286's, 386's, 486's, etc. In otherwords, > chips that > vintage computer enthusiasts don't really care about anyway. > > The only thing vintage computer enthusiasts notice is that old chips > routinely > bring hundreds of dollars of EBAY. What you don't notice is that it's > the same > group of a dozen collectors that are buying them. If the handful of > serious chip > collectors were to each obtain an example of every chip every made, it > would > not have much effect at all on the ability of vintage computer > enthusiasts to > obtain replacement parts for your machines. If you want to blame > someone > for the high price of vintage chips, blame the people who melted down > millions > of them for their gold content in the 80's, don't blame the handful of > serious > chip collectors. > > 9. I agree that a functioning vintage machine is "more interesting" than a > chip > in a display case. Most vintage chip collectors drool over the vintage > machines > that you guys have and not because of the chips in them either. That > said, > we also recognize that the chips themselves have historic value and > should > be preserved. Many chip collectors would like to one day obtain a > working vintage machine but I know more than a few who have abandoned > this idea once they figured out that many vintage computer enthusiasts > have such a negative view of chip collectors. > > That said, it's alot easier to get into chip collecting than vintage > computer > collecting. Chip collecting has the potential to bring alot of new > faces > into the world of vintage computers but unfortunately I don't see that > happening any time soon. > > What many of you old timers don't realize it that the "youngsters" that > came > along after the 8088 naturally see computers as a collection of > components. > Computer enthusiasts today don't buy prebuilt machines, they build them > from components and then constantly upgrade them. The very concept of > of collecting an entire machine is foreign to them because their > machines > are constantly changing. > > That said, many of these types already have chip collections, their > collections are old > CPU's they saved when they upgraded their machines over the years. You > bring > up chip collecting and they say that's pretty cool, I already have a > small collection. > > The same younger computer enthusiasts are the very people you need to > keep your > hobby going but the sad thing is, many of the same people will try and > entire > your world from the world of chip collecting and be totally turned off > by your > attitudes toward chip collectors. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Brian Chase" <vaxzilla(a)jarai.org> > To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 4:13 PM > Subject: Promoting Classic Computers [was Re: Chip with holes in it] > > > > On Wed, 13 Nov 2002, Will Jennings wrote: > > > > > I find that sellers auctions disturbing, since at least one the boards > > > has a comment of "just removed from the rack" : ( > > > > I find the whole practice of "chip collecting" a bit disturbing. Mainly > > because it means functioning, useful, components are becoming scarcer > > for those people who could actually put them to use. And then > > secondarily, it creates a market for the willful destruction of what > > might be otherwise working systems or subsystems. > > > > There's difficulty in attempting to educate people that working systems > > are more interesting, and valuable, than disassembled bits of them. It > > /is/ solely a matter of viewpoint, and not everyone has the skills or > > resources to collect like most people here do, but getting even a few of > > them to see things our way is progress. > > > > Evangelizing on the behalf of classic computing is something we all > > should be doing. I tend to do a lot of that when it comes to my VAXen. > > And where permitted, I always have a classic computer or two on the > > network at my workplace. The NeXT that's beside my new iMac at work > > always raises eyebrows and generates a lot of questions. > > > > Other things that help are contributing to the various computer museums > > (money, unique equipment, your time, etc.) Providing information to > > people on this list is useful. The documentation scanning projects are > > wonderful resources. The publicity generated by things like the VCF is > > good; Sellam getting visibity in Wired and on Tech TV raises awareness > > in a broader audience than could be otherwise achieved. And I think > > books like _Collectible Microcomputers_ and Christian Wurster's > > _Computers: An Illustrated History_ are useful to have lying around as > > coffee table material. > > > > -brian. > > > > >

23 years, 7 months

2
1
0 0

Performa 550 ??

by gene＠ehrich.com

I have a MAC Performa 550 that was working fine before I put it away. I just took it out and hooked it up. When I turned it on there was a quick indication of power and then nothing. Is there any kind of fuse in these machines or is it probably dead. Help

23 years, 7 months

5
4
0 0

Altair32 Emulator

by rcini＠optonline.net

Sellam: >On Fri, 15 Nov 2002, John Lawson wrote: >> Thanks again... certainly an wonderful example of what this List is >> for... >All the more inspiring, considering Richard learned how to program C >through this project. >(Is that right, Rich?) Yes, this is true. If you look in the ZIP file for "building.txt" I give a little background on how I got involved. To sap some bandwidth, here's the Readers Digest version: By day, I'm a banker. By night, a closet programmer. I came across the binaries for the original emulators about three years ago. Since I have no expectations of owning a real Altair, I thought that it would be great to use an emulator. Well, the original implementation didn't work. About two years ago, I found the source for it on the Web. I contacted Claus Giloi and he basically said that he didn't have time to improve it or actually verify that it worked. For him, the project started in 1991...the last build was done in late-1996. Claus built the emulator from the magazine article and the data books -- nothing else. He had no software or a physical Altair to work with. The original emulator supported nothing...no disks, no console, no way to get programs into or out of it. The CPU code was about 80% functional, but it's the old "80/20" rule...the last 20% was the hardest to fix. Basically blinkenlights and nothing else. My total programming experience for years was limited to BASIC, VisualBASIC and 6502 assembler (on the Commodores). For pleasure, I had already read all of the Andrew Schulman "Undocumented..." and "...Internals" books, so I was familiar with what was going on in a Windows program (from the inside), and there were plenty of C code examples to read, but like any language (programming or other), it's one thing to read it and another to write it. So, since Claus gave me the go-ahead to take over the project, I jumped right in, and the first mods were done on June 8, 2000. So, not only did I have to learn the syntactical nuiances of C, but I had to learn the intricacies of Windows programming and emulator writing, in addition to noodling around code written by a professional developer working for Microsoft. I'm still lousy at C, and I wish I could take an "Adult Education" class on it. Anyway, that's the story. Rich Cini Collector of classic computers Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ /************************************************************/

23 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Litton systems?

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

Is anyone here familar with Litton Systems Guidance and Control Systems Division in Northridge California? I have a CP-2088 Navigation Computer that was built there and I'm trying to figure out what it goes into. Joe

23 years, 7 months

3
2
0 0

Performa 550 ??

by cb＠mythtech.net

>I have a MAC Performa 550 that was working fine before I put it away. I >just took it out and hooked it up. When I turned it on there was a quick >indication of power and then nothing. Is there any kind of fuse in these >machines or is it probably dead. Check the PRAM battery. Many of the Mac models with soft power won't boot without a good PRAM battery. It need not read the full 3.6 volts, but anything less than 1 volt is no good. The battery, oddly enough is available as a regular stock item at Radio Shack (yet similar PC CMOS batteries are not... go figure). Also, the 550 models are soft power, but also have a hard power switch on the back. Make sure the switch is on, and then hit the power key on the keyboard to actually power it up. Just flipping the hard power switch on the back won't let the mac boot (but will usually result in a quick electrical pop noise as it charges up, if the mac has been idle long enough). -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

23 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

kaypro 2 boot disk.

by winnderfish_falls＠yahoo.com

I need a boot disk for a kaypro 2. A freind gave me boot disk for the II, but that didn't work. Also I need a commodore pet for a display at a school, dead or alive any model. Please email me winnderfish_falls(a)yahoo.com Thanks, David G. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site http://webhosting.yahoo.com

23 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Broken SIMM tabs on Mac IIci

by bob_lafleur＠technologist.com

Ok, so I did it... When trying to remove the SIMMS in my Mac IIci I broke some of the little tiny plastic tabs, so now the new SIMMs won't lock in. Is there some "fix" to get the SIMMs to stay in, short of soldering new sockets into the board (which I am not about to do)? Also, I broke them on Bank A. I assume you can't use RAM in Bank B without having Bank A full... Should I just trash the motherboard? Or can I salvage it somehow? Are these SIMM tabs particularly vulnerable, especially on this old equipment? I broke them on 2 machines, and on the 2nd one I did, I was trying to be very careful. - Bob (not a happy MACer today)

23 years, 7 months

6
7
0 0

65C51 Stock?

by per＠tdsi.co.uk

Hello Ross, The 65C51 seems to have gone obsolete and I'm looking for stock of the Rockwell 65C51, or equivalent. I saw your name mentioned in a reference on the 'net about supply of 65xx series IC's and wondered if you've got any contacts who might have 65C51's available. I've made other enquiries through the trade, but they are all a bit hit-and-miss and I thought you might know what the present situation is with these devices. Regards, Peter Rudland, TDSi, Poole, Dorset, UK

23 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

ASR33 Problems

by david.comley＠motorola.com

>>From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk >> >>> >>> Any Teletype ASR33 experts out there ? I have a couple >>> of problems with a teletype that recently came my way. >> >>I believe the ASR33 manauls are available on a web site somewhere. If >>you don't have them as printed books, then you want to get these files >>and print them. They make life a lot easier. OK, I did a complete >>strip-down, clean, oil, reassemble and adjust job on an ASR33 without the >>manuals (and with never having seen the manuals), but then I tend to do >>crazy things like that... >> >>> >>> i) When I type a character from the keyboard in local >>> mode, something else gets printed. What gets printed >>> is not consistently the same character. I've watched >>> the selector mechanism while I hit rubout (all marking >>> codebars) and I can see that the codebars are not >>> being consistently selected betwee key presses: >>> sometimes I get 5 of them, sometimes 6 and >>> occasionally all 8. The high order bits seem to be >>> worst affected by this inconsistency. However if I >>> hold down the repeat key and select a character, the >>> right codebars are being selected. I punched a number >>> of characters onto tape to verify this and they seem >>> to be punching OK. This suggests to me that this isn't >> >>If the character _always_ punches correctly, then the right codebars are >>being selected. So I assume this is not the case. >Hi >I think you need to make this point clearer. When a character >is punched, the same character is miss printed on the platen? >This is how I read his original post. Even using the REPT key to workaround the codebar issue, I wasn't able to connect the carriage problem conclusively to either a rotational or a vertical problem. I think at this point I'm going to take the carriage off again and try a more thorough dismantle/clean/oil. Once I resolve the codebar issue it will be easier to diagnose the carriage problem with a clean mechanism. >This tells me it is something sticking in the linkage that goes >between the code bars and the print head( or he has it installed >wrong but that doesn't explain why it starts working with repeats ). >I would remove the print assembly and put it in some solvent >while moving the levers. Then clean it off/dry it and re-oil >it. You most likely have some dry oil that is sluggish. Getting >oil into the right place will take a bit. >In the service( military ), we used to clean things in a bath >of water and heavy detergent. This was done in an ultrasonic >cleaner. We'd then rinse and bake it at about 150F for a few >hours. Then Re-oil/grease, place on test bench and fine adjust. >I suspect that a good dish washing liquid would work. I remember using an arklone bath at a place I worked years ago for cleaning circuit boards. Probably taken a few years off my live expectancy breathing that stuff in. > >Basically, there are 3 possible problem areas : > >1) The keyboard contacts are not closing correctly, so the parallel data >output of the keyboard is incorrect. > >2) The distributor disk (rear right of the typing unit) is not correctly >serialising the data from the keyboard. Unlikely, but possible. > >3) The selector unit (rear left of the typing unit) is malfunctioning, >and is not correclty responding the receiving magnet. > I can see the armature 'stutter' when I punch the rubout key - by stutter, I mean that its movement looks slightly different between keypresses. So I'm inclined to think that the magnet is just responding to what it is receiving which is incorrect. I cleaned the distributor and reseated the brushes, readjusted the brush holder to the alignment mark per the adjustment procedure in the manual. So I'm back to option 1) - the keyboard - as the source of the problem. One thing I noticed last night was that the keyboard cover is broken. There are four round tabs, one at each corner, that fit into corresponding holes on the end plates. These are broken, so the cover can rock from side to side, pivoting on those center projections. I wonder if that could cause some sort of alignment problem within the keyboard ? Thanks for the suggestions - I will get to it again tonight and see what else I can find out. I hate the idea of opening that keyboard up... >I would check (3) first. It may need to be removed, dismantled, cleaned, >and re-lubricated. It's not uncommon for parts to stick on old, gummy, >lubricant. > >> an electrical problem since whatever code the keyboard >> is sending is eventually being sensed correctly. >> >> ii) In addition to i) above, even if I do get all the >> codebars moving as required, the wrong characters are >> being printed. I removed the carriage, cleaned and >> oiled it and replaced it but this hasn't helped. > >How did you clean it? I have found that soaking compete assemblies in >solvent doesn't help much. You really have to take all the parts apart, >clean them, and then re-assemble them. If yoy've done this, then there >are a lot of sdjustment you'd have to set up. > >A character decoding problem must be in the carriage. There are 4 parts >to the decoder mechanism : > >2 bits -> one of 4 levels of lift of the type cylinder >1 bit -) rotate cylinder left or right >2 bits -> one of 4 angles (pairs of characters) of rotation of the cylinder >1 bit -> an extra 1 character angle rotate (it moves the selector bars >for the previous rotation selection slightly...). > >Figure out which mechanism is malfunctioning by comparing the position of >the character you get with the position of the character you should be >getting. Then work out what's not operating properly. > >-tony > >

23 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Free Amiga software and manuals

by cfnelson_87111＠yahoo.com

I have rescued the following Commodore Amiga items on their way to the dumpster. The whole lot is available for free to a good home if you pay for the shipping (or pick them up in Albuquerque). If you are interested, please contact me at cfnelson_87111(a)yahoo.com. Note that I have never used an Amiga and thus do not have any information beyond what is printed on the disks and manuals. I also do not know if the disks any good; they have no visible signs of damage. - disks and manuals Amiga operating system ARexx AmigaDOS Workbench 2.1 AmigaVision ProWrite (New Horizons Software) word processor, version 3.0 ProScript (New Horizons Software) PostScript utility, version 1.0 Professional Calc (Gold Disk), 1.00 and 1.02 update Deluxe Paint III (Electronic Arts) Deluxe Paint IV (Electronic Arts) Amiga TCP/IP, AS225 2 copies X Window System (GfxBase), 4.x GDA-1 (GfxBase), Graphics Display Adapter 1, 1.0 VideoScape 3D (Aegis) solid 3-D animation and rendering, 2.0 includes bonus Pro/Motion (Aegis), 1.0b Draw 2000 (Aegis) desktop CADD UltraDesign! (Progressive Peripherals & Software) CADD software, 1.0 and 1.1 AmigaTeX and METAFONT (Radical Eye Software) lots of disks for different versions Quarterback (Central Coast Software) hard disk backup, 503 - disks only (no manuals) ARexx (William S.Hawes), 1.10 AC/FORTRAN (absoft) TxEd Plus V2.01 (Microsmiths) Amiga Workbench 1.3 UEDIT (Rick Stiles) Professional Page (Gold Disk), 1.1 A-Max IV (ReadySoft) Mac emulator - manuals only (no disks) flickerFixer, Owner's Manual (MicroWay), advanced graphics adapter for A2000 Presentation Master (Oxxi) Superbase 4 (Precision Software) - database and text editor - form designer and programming language - applications guide - hardware manuals and software (no hardware) Amiga 2088 Bridgeboard, for A2000/IBM-PC XT compatibility GVP Series II 68030 Accelerator Board for Amiga 2000 __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos http://launch.yahoo.com/u2

23 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Corvus Developers kit that was Ebay

by aek＠spies.com

> Did anyone here from the list win that auction the manuals from the auction are on line at www.spies.com/aek/pdf/corvus

23 years, 7 months

15
20
0 0

Discovery Computers 4 Sale

by vernon_wright＠hotmail.com

Curt, >Discovery Computers??? x86 multiprocessors??? Please elaborate, any links >or picks??? Discovery was produced by Ace Computer Action Enterprises, Pasadena, CA., c. 1983. It came in at least two models, as documented by one Bill Whitson in The List in '97. ACE Discovery 500 83 Discovery 1600 83 I have one Discovery 500, sans disk drives (one floppy, one MFM 20 gig [whoops, I mean meg :)]. I also have one Discovery ????, which is likely a slave unit - having no provision for disk drives (but does have a SemiDisk for some healthy memory). This is about as much as I know ('cept one of these ran a BBS back in the olden days, if memory serves). Don't find much documentation. But also, I haven't checked the Computer Museum of America, here in San Diego, except to ask if they would like to have them. They already have one, hope they will take one or both for parts or.... However, I'd be just as happy to see them in use by someone who has time and energy to make them go. Vern Wright vernon_wright(a)hotmail.com Posted & Mailed _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

23 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Dying VaxStation 4000 VLC - help?

by mtapley＠swri.edu

All, More info: >Linear Technology 1.5A adjustable voltage regulator, TO-220 package. Has about the same voltages on its pins when the system is either running or failed: Vin 5.4V, Vout 3.5V, Adj(gnd) 2.1V Should that last be 0.0? I'm referring all of these measurements to Chassis ground, obtained by wedging a lead against the power supply housing. Measurements power-off with the Ohmmeter say that last pin is about 75 Ohms away from Chassis. Ironically, that's more than the readings for either Vin or Vout. >Low Power Low Offset Voltage Dual Comparator (LM193) This guy is intimately linked to the failure. V+ connected to 5.4 V (Red wires) Gnd connected to ground (Black wires = chassis ground.) Output A obeys the following rule: running fail out A 5.4V 0V One other interesting thing is that the first few times I touched "out A" with the probe, it failed immediately. I actually *did* get to see the needle swing a couple of times, as it tried to decide whether to run with the probe on that lead. Eventually it decided to run even with the probe on the output. The meter claims 20,000 ohms/Volt DC, so I did not expect to crash the system by probing it. I tried Out B, but it didn't change while I was watching and I didn't record what state it was in. Thermal dependence is still flaky, but it did go rapidly and persistently toes-up when I turned the hair-dryer + funnel combo on the LM193. I only got to do one trial, though, before it got to the point that it wouldn't run long enough to convince me the heat gun was doing the deed, so that could have been coincidence. I tried a few other parts of the circuit board, and got similar results out of a big chip near the SCSI connector. Dunno if that's relevant. - Mark

23 years, 7 months

2
1
0 0

Broken SIMM tabs on Mac IIci

by Robert_Feldman＠jdedwards.com

If you still have the broken pieces, you can probably glue them back on with a solvent-weld plastic cement such as Tenax 7R. Then treat the mended sockets with extra care, as they will never be as stong as they were originally. -----Original Message----- From: Bob Lafleur [mailto:bob_lafleur@technologist.com] Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 11:26 PM To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Subject: Broken SIMM tabs on Mac IIci Ok, so I did it... When trying to remove the SIMMS in my Mac IIci I broke some of the little tiny plastic tabs, so now the new SIMMs won't lock in. Is there some "fix" to get the SIMMs to stay in, short of soldering new sockets into the board (which I am not about to do)? Also, I broke them on Bank A. I assume you can't use RAM in Bank B without having Bank A full... Should I just trash the motherboard? Or can I salvage it somehow? Are these SIMM tabs particularly vulnerable, especially on this old equipment? I broke them on 2 machines, and on the 2nd one I did, I was trying to be very careful. - Bob (not a happy MACer today)

23 years, 7 months

2
1
0 0

CPM-8000

by dwightk.elvey＠amd.com

Hi I've just sent my latest CPM-8000 stuff to the unofficial cp/m site. It is available under: http://www.cpm.z80.de/binary.html It has a working boot image plus the other files to run this on an Olivetti M20. It does have code to regenerate a new BIOS so that it can be ported to another Z8001 machine. If anyone is contemplating this, they should contact me or Chris to help out. There are a few things that effect hardware that one should know. It would also be very difficult to complete the job without access to a M20. I am willing to run compiles on my machine for anyone that writes their BIOS to create a working image. Thanks to Hans B Pufal, Gaby Chaudry and Al Kossow. Without there information, I wouldn't have been able to begin to get things working on the M20. Of course, 50% of the credit goes to Chris Groessler, as we collaborated on working the bugs out of creating the first boot images. Dwight

23 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Beginner's Supnik Emulator help

by jpl15＠panix.com

I downloaded E11 some years ago on a Pent I desktop but never got it to work, prolly due to no smarts on my part. This evening, thinking it might be fun to hook up my M4 Data SCSI 9trker to the laptop, and use it to work on Stuff to be transferred to the 11/44 later, I DL'ed the latest and greatest from his Site (V3.1), and installed it. I am running Win 2000 on an IBM A21m Thinkpad, with 256M of RAM and a 10GB HD. Right away, my little Pest Control program flags me that 'ntvdm.exe' has been detected, and as many times as I exterminate it, it returns as soon as e11.exe is run. Is this a bug, or something in E11 that looks like one? The details say it is a VBB virus tutorial... if it *is* a virus, or virus-related creepy-crawly, then there are much bigger problems afoot and I'll scrub the whole thing. At the E11> prompt in the DOS window, I type: E11> set cpu 44 E11> mount du0: rsx11m ERROR opening file - RSX11M.DSK E11> mount du1: ra80 ERROR opening file - RA80.DSK And so on... each iteration brings up the virus warning, and the disk emulations seem to be AWOL. So: any ideas? Obvious Stupidities? etc? Cheers John

23 years, 7 months

4
5
0 0

Broken SIMM tabs on Mac IIci

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 11/15/2002 9:20:49 AM Eastern Standard Time, Robert_Feldman(a)jdedwards.com writes: << If you still have the broken pieces, you can probably glue them back on with a solvent-weld plastic cement such as Tenax 7R. Then treat the mended sockets with extra care, as they will never be as stong as they were originally. >> why not just use hot-melt glue to keep the SIMMs in? At least you could remove them later.

23 years, 7 months

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Big computer "scrap" cleanup in Washington, DC

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

I just found this by accident: ============================================================ Junk Collection on Monument Grounds Updated: Friday, Nov. 15, 2002 - 8:02 AM EDT. (Washington) -- Got an old computer that's taking up space? How about a TV that's seen better times? Friday and Saturday, you can bring your old electronics to the grounds of the Washington Monument to be safely discarded. The event is a joint effort by the White House, the District, and the EPA. Environmental experts say some old electronics contain lead or other materials that can potentially harm the environment if they're not handled properly. Computers, telephones, office equipment, and some televisions will be accepted. But no luck if your TV is larger than 19 inches or encased in a wooden console. Kitchen appliances, microwaves, vacuums, and air conditioners also can not be turned in. (Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) ============================================================== Now, granted the stuff that shows up will likely be 99% real junk (386 Wintel boxes) but is anybody in the area going to try to snag any of the 1% gold that may show up? I wish I had known about it sooner, my weekend is booked solid. Bill

23 years, 7 months

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Altair32 emu and VanDyke CRT fix

by jpl15＠panix.com

Using VanDyke's CRT telnet client as a 'console' for Rich's Altair Emulator, I find that I have to configure an option to make it play nicely: In 'Sesion Options" "Connection" "Telnet" [X] Force Character at a time mode That seems to have made it work well... and the launching sequence is critical, as laid out in a previous message... Cheers John

23 years, 7 months

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Check out the bid for the games that was not high enough

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

Talk about people with money to burn http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewItem&item=139553608 0

23 years, 7 months

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Found Altair problem:

by jpl15＠panix.com

Turned the damn firewall off. Should the CP/M disks just have one file each? Like PIP.COM on the CPM22 disk... This had no effect on Ersatz-11... it still is unhappy with me for some unfathomable reason... Cheerz John

23 years, 7 months

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ANN: Altair32 Emulator version 2.40 released

by rcini＠optonline.net

Hello, all: Tonight I posted the latest release of the Altair32 Emulator for Windows. There have been a few changes since the last release in August. Working closely with Scott LaBombard, we've added configurable memory ranges (split between RAM and ROM), a ROM Manager to allow the easy adding or removing of ROM binaries, and selectable console terminal using telnet or the Windows Console. Scott also generated new CP/M 2.2 disk images from the 2.2 source. He also re-wrote the CBIOS to fully enable 8 emulated disk drives, including up to 4 "large" (1.1mb) disks. Finally, in an effort to improve performance and reduce CPU utilization on the host computer, I made the conversion to a timeslicing model based on Jim Battle's Solace project. Enhancements on tap for the next release include a toolbar, a tabbed configuration dialog, and VT100 control code support within the Windows Console code. You can visit the project page at http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/Altair32.htm to download the latest ZIP file. Thanks and enjoy. Rich Cini Collector of classic computers Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ /************************************************************/

23 years, 7 months

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