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

by mythtech＠mac.com

>The reason why something is developed is really not that relevant to how >it may ultimately be used So, according to you... if someone can find an illegal use for an otherwise legal item, that item should no longer be available to ANYONE, regardless of if it has legitimate legal uses? That being the case... please IMMEDIATELY surrender ALL your computers to me, since they are potentially capable of pirating software, which according to your logic, means you can not legally have said computers. I will make sure they are properly disposed of for you. While you are at it, I need a new car, so give me yours as well... after all, cars are used every day as transport mechanisms for illegal activity. I'll make sure it too is "disposed" of in a proper and fitting manner. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

The Future End of Classic Computing

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> >The reason why something is developed is really not that relevant to how > >it may ultimately be used > > So, according to you... if someone can find an illegal use for an > otherwise legal item, that item should no longer be available to ANYONE, > regardless of if it has legitimate legal uses? > > That being the case... please IMMEDIATELY surrender ALL your computers to > me, since they are potentially capable of pirating software, which > according to your logic, means you can not legally have said computers. FYI... John Draper was arrested and convicted in Pennsylvania in '77 or '78 for "possession of a device capable of defrauding the telephone company of its rightful tarrifs". I met him on his journey back to the left coast after he got out. The device in question? The Apple (autodialing) Modem, which he was developing for Woz. Why? Well, Woz doesn't like to do too much in hardware; he always like to minimize the logic design and use software to do the job (a great philosphy for controllers, a louosy one for general purpose computers). So rather than design the hardware to have fixed-frequency tones, the software could determine the tones to be used. Of course, that meant you could select the ESS interswitch "MF" tones instead of DTMF. Today, virtually every modem with a Rockwell chipset has this feature. Has Rockwell been locked up? Unlikely... -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixsnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 2 months

6
7
0 0

Soldering and other skills (was Re: QL-Quality (Was: ZX-81 Question))

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On March 31, John Chris Wren wrote: > It's true. The mercury was used to stiffen the brims. Chronic hat wearers > also had problems. So does anyone have any idea how much lead is present in the vapors produced by soldering? I know (for our kind of stuff, anyway) the smoke is mostly flux and crap, but is there much lead in there? I solder a *lot*, especially lately...I'm wondering if I should be concerned. -Dave -- Dave McGuire "...it's leaving me this unpleasant, St. Petersburg, FL damp feeling on my shorts..." -Sridhar

24 years, 2 months

13
17
0 0

Strange idea in VAX

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

> Sridhar the POWERful wrote: > >Ok. I wonder what would happen if I stuck a DWBUA in the BI cage of my >VAX 7000-650, and added a UNIBUS cabinet, then I were to take a Qniverter >and add a Qbus framebuffer? I imagine you'd be carted off to the funny farm :-) I assume you were not serious but just in case ... Your path to the Qbus widgets would be: LSB->XMI->BI->UNIBUS->QBUS which I suspect is a tad tortuous even for the normally well designed DEC stuff. Bus adapters generally only work well one bus down. Beyond that you start to hit timing issues and other such trivia such as locking. As an aside, surely with a little bit of thought you could get TURBOchannel and PCI involved in there? How hard can it be? Antonio

24 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

CP/M and Imsai

by caprio＠dcms.com

I'm new to this news group and the S-100 world so my appologies in advance for what may be stupid or common knowledge questions. I purchased an Imsai 8080 and would like to run some version of CP/M. Should I stick with Imsai's IMDOS, which we know works? If CP/M is doable What version would be the best choice? Does CP/M need some sort of BIOS like the PC? If so where do I get the BIOS source in order to burn an EPROM? Any help, pointers, URL's, etc wouldbe greatly appreciated. Thanks.

24 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by blacklord＠telstra.com

----- Original Message ----- From: Christopher Smith <csmith(a)amdocs.com> Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2002 8:59 am Subject: RE: Computers Manufactured in 1986 > ... if you can find the expansions. :) Fair bit of stuff still out (I have some strange ones in my own connection - for eg. a Xetec controller with an extra 2 mb ram & a weird hard disk connector that plugged into the A1000's expansion (Zorro) port - same co. used to make Centronics i/faces for VIC's & 64/128's) > As for a more common system (more common than the Intergraph, not the > Amiga), a UnixPC with 1 meg of ram, and maybe 60MB of disk will give > you access to a really decent subset of available Unix (and possibly > MS-DOS) software. It will also have a decent development environment, > given the installation of a dev kit. THe A2000UX from Commodore was fairly respecatble (though somewhat undersold), not sure what version of Unix it ran, have to dig up my old dealer brochures. > > On the other hand, the Atari ST plays quite a few more games. :) > But the Miggy had more & in better quality :-) (And they're still being written for too.....) cheers, Lance ---------------- Powered by telstra.com

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> But surely you have hardware shops that sell screws? Yes, but they require cash or credit... promises don't fly. > > in the U.S. Midwest for an office supply firm. The scene is > > set in a "typical" office... some shirts are having a meeting, > > when another shirt comes in and asks if "can we use the pen"? > > > > THE pen. The only pen in the office. > > Are you sure this is not some 3rd world country???? It often feels that way... Many firms have company credit cards. I think we grossed US$8M last year, and no such plastic exists in this firm, The 25 Dells that were bought? We have one employee who *loves* those points, rebates, and skymiles from large purchases. Then, he submits them for reimbursment. Yours Truly lives paycheck to paycheck and is running a monthly $100 deficit, that only the end-of-year bonus finally clears up. So, it's rare that I can purchase a needed item. I'm supposed to requisition it. Anything I buy that I don't get approved, I risk not being reimbursed. > > When I need a screw for a PC, I typically have to find a PC > > from which to remove a screw. Everything ends up with half > > the screws it was designed to use. > > Now many of my computers don't have any casing screws, but that's not > because I needed them for something else. It's because I want to be able > to work inside the machine. Well, yes, I have lots of those... my EPROM burner is a board in a 486 that lives sans-a-case... -dq

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

The Future End of Classic Computing

by mythtech＠mac.com

>I guess I should have been a bit clearer. The DeCSS >lawsuit was not about posting source code, but about >posting a Windows executable version which was known >as "DeCSS." As stated by 2600 Enterprises in its >post-hearing brief: "Jon Johansen testified that . . >. he wrote the program for Windows rather than for >Linux in order to test it properly because Linux did >not then support the UDF file system used on DVDs." Um... can you explain then, if this is what the lawsuit was about, WHY it was deemed illegal to post or link to, copies of the SOURCE CODE for the DeCSS algorithm. After all THAT is what 2600 was arguing. They didn't disagree that an executable could be used to pirate a DVD. Nor did they flat out disagree that distributing it might not be such a hot idea... what they were fighting for, was the RIGHT to post and say anything you damn well please. If you stop people from posting source code, even if that source code when used serves no purpose other than to commit a crime... you are STILL crushing free speech. There should be no law to stop it... much as their should be no law stopping me from explaining in detail, if I so choose, how to commit murder and get away with it. There is no practical application for executing the knowledge of how to commit and get away with murder, but that doesn't mean that one should be stopped from sharing that knowledge. The moment someone puts the knowledge into use for illegal purposes... THAT is when the law should step up and prosecute someone. But since there are already laws in place that appear to cover the actual illegal activities... then things like the DMCA should just be repealed... they are redundant in places of stopping actual crime, and they cause things that should not be crimes, to now be listed as such. What amazes me is... it has been deemed in a court of law, that it is free speech and ok to publish detailed instructions on how to build an atomic bomb. But it is illegal to post instructions on how to play a DVD that I bought, on a computer that I bought, using an OS that I bought. You can't go around assuming that everyone, when given the chance, will be a criminal. Gee... NJ did that, and now they are 160 million in debt with their EZ-Pass system... why? Because they figured that they would be able to pay for the system from tickets issued to toll jumpers... but funny thing is, they have now found out the hard way, that 99% of the population of NJ is honest... and now the state is stuck with the bill to pay. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

New Finds today and HELP needed on Apple card

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

Today was busy at doing a auction most of the morning and stopping at several thrift stores all afternoon. Below are some of my finds and a strange card. 1. Mac Performa 630CD (was $5.99) 2. Mac Performa 6110CD (was $7) 3. View-Master InteractiveVision console in the box it was used unit missing the VHS tape that comes with it. (was $18) 4. Laser 50 personal computer (was $2.92) 5. AT&T Globulyst 378TPC tower model 3348-4372 (was $8) 6. Two hp front cartridges (22706C and 22706M). (was 80 cent) 7. Where in Time is Carmen San Diego cartridge by Konami for the Nintendo NES in a box with a desk encyclopedia. (was 79 cent) 8. Six different CD's for the Panasonic 3 DO system. Looked all over store and asked the clerks if they had the game console. No Luck finding it there. (these were .99 to $1.99 each) 9. Several old monitors for $1 each. 10. Now this the card: It says in caps MOTOROLA M68HC05PGMR. One of the chips has a homemade label on it that says METER.MIK CKSUM BF73. There are 2 switches on one is a ON/OFF and the other looks like a reset switch. There is a number in bold white of 3189.Three wires are coming >from one side and they are purple, blue, and black in color. It looks like some kind of EPROM burner to me? Anyone have info on this card? (was $1.99)

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > Anyone notice how commodity PCs have screws that have clearly > > been *cast* onstead of *turned/Machined*? Everytime you thread > > one into a hole, you generate a nice supply of metal shavings. > > > > Not good. > > Just bad bag of that screws. Toss it and buy bag of decent screws. I should have been more specific... the screws to which I am referring are those commonly provided for securing the cards in their slots. And they shed metal not only from the screw but from the rear of the chassis they thread into. In fact, everytime you insert one of these, it has a 50% chance of rethreading the hole. Look at them carefully... they have a noticable taper. That's *one* way to encourage them to stay put. -dq

24 years, 2 months

7
6
0 0

3600 & 3640 at SRI surplus auction through 4/5

by red＠bears.org

Spotted on another list. Reply to Mabry directly. ok r. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2002 16:10:51 -0800 From: Mabry Tyson <tyson(a)AI.SRI.COM> Reply-To: slug(a)AI.SRI.COM To: "slug(a)ai.sri.com" <slug(a)AI.SRI.COM> Subject: [SLUG] 3600 & 3640 at SRI surplus auction through 4/5 I just wandered through SRI's surplus auction. They've got a 3600 (s/n 583) and 3645 there, each very full of cards. Honestly, I don't know whether they work or not. These were machines that were government owned machines that are being auctioned off. I didn't notice any cables, monitors, keyboards, or mice with them. The auction ends on the 5th. If you want to bid, let me know and I'll give you further info, but I won't bid for you.

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by blacklord＠telstra.com

----- Original Message ----- From: Gary Hildebrand <ghldbrd(a)ccp.com> Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2002 3:52 am Subject: Re: Computers Manufactured in 1986 > You forgot the first Amiga (1000)! And the commodore 64, Plus 4, and > commodore 16. > > The C64 was released in 1982 (20 this year!, The Plus/4 & C16 were (I think) 1984, so none of those qualify. The A1000 does though.... cheers, Lance ---------------- Powered by telstra.com

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Pr1marily Contented (Longish)

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: > > Now that my Prime 2455 is fully operational again, > ... > > Ok, go for broke, swap in the remaining CPU board set, replace > > newly-provided CPU board interconnects (top hats) with my old > > ones... > > Thank you! Thank you! You've solved a twenty-year-old puzzle > for me and all the other Prime hackers at Westfield College. > You see, one day we were bored enough to read the Prime 750's > log book (must've been a day when the power failed or something) > and the Prime engineer had written the inscrutable: > > Rotated top hats > > Now, we didn't know what these gadgets were, but rotating them > seemed to be crucial to making our beloved Prime work, so we > just accepted it. Every time an engineer called, we'd look at > each other and say "He's here to rotate the top hats again". > > Now, at last, we know what they are! Any chance of a photo? heh, believe it or not, there are two different, unreleated things called "top hats" in some Primes... In my 2455, at the top, underneath the removable top skin, is a small +/- 12VDC power supply, called the "top hat PSU". But the 750 wouldn't have had those... in the link below, they are the three small rectangular vertically arranged; my 2455's boards run vertical in the cage: http://members.iglou.com/dougq/p2455/ICS&Cipher.html OTOH, in the 750, the boards went in horizontally, so you'd have seen the top hats left-to-right (at least that's how they were in the P400 and the P650). Glad I could help! Regards, -doug q

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

(Private, To SteveRob, Using List, Direct Contact Fails)

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> >From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" <dquebbeman(a)acm.org> > >Reply-To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > >To: "ClassicCmp List" <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> > >Subject: Pr1marily Contented (Longish) > >Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 23:23:03 -0500 > > > >Now that my Prime 2455 is fully operational again, I > >want to thank everyone who offered advice here. After > >giving up on repairing the power supply, I decided to > >buy one. > > I assuming you don't need the one I have set aside? Steve- You're one of several listers with whom it appears I have read-only contact with. My replies never seem to get through. If your PSU is a TLA10113-001, no, I don't need it; OTOH, if it's a 7778, then I *might* be interested, they are apparantly rather rare now. They put out the +/- 16VDC used by the older memory cards. There will come a day when someone will need one, and no more will be found. Can you at least check the numbers on it for me, so I can make an intelligent decision? Ok, then at least an *informed* decision... ;) -dq

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > The Mac! > > Eeek. > > How about a nice Apollo workstation? D'Oh! Yeah, what he said, too... -dq

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > What are some good old computers manufactured in 1986? > Well, my Prime 2455 is one example... That *may* be the year John's Cyber 180/960 was built... Any Apollo workstation made that year... Oh! Oh! Didn't the Mac II premiere in '86? Or was it '87? IBM RS/6000? Kaypro 2000? -dq

24 years, 2 months

12
19
0 0

IBM PS/1 Recovery/Install diskettes available

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 4/2/02 5:05:52 PM Eastern Standard Time, r_beaudry(a)hotmail.com writes: << A bit too new to be on topic, but... I was scrounging through some stuff yesterday, and unearthed a set of original diskettes for an IBM PS/1. >> do you know what model PS/1? old computers, old cars and sundry items www.nothingtodo.org

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > > Loboyko Steve wrote: > > > WW sockets are getting more expensive. I won't use > > > anything but machine tooled pin sockets, which are > > > even more expensive. Buf going nuts and wasting your > > > precious free time over a flaky socket is really, > > > really expensive. > > > > I, too, can recommend only going with machined-pin sockets; anything less > > isn't worth the hassle of trying to chase down phantom problems. This > > goes for soldered designs as well as WW. > > I'll 'third' it... > > I will use nothing but turned-pin sockets (that's what they're called in > the UK) now. I once spent most of a day tracking down a fault that was > caused by a flaky contact on a folded-metal type of socket. Never again. > I've got more enjoyable things to do... Speaking of machined parts versus something else... Anyone notice how commodity PCs have screws that have clearly been *cast* onstead of *turned/Machined*? Everytime you thread one into a hole, you generate a nice supply of metal shavings. Not good. To get back on topic, when did this trend start? The IBM PC, PC/XT, and PC/AT used machined/turned fasteners. Lots of classic non-consumer hardware used various "captive mechanisms" instead of plain old screws and bolts. And how about sharp edges inside a chassis? Older hardware tends to have spent a little time in the hands of a whitesmith, who added lots of finishing detail like smooth edges that don't cut. -dq

24 years, 2 months

7
7
0 0

ZX81 and 6116

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> > > The text refers to 2x2114 or a 4118 installed in the UK version and a > > 2K option for export - possibly there are 2 versions of the board? > > OK, I've pulled my ZX81 apart. The PCB claims to be 'Issue 1'. I have never seen any board marked "Issue 2." Did it exist? > So, fit L2 if you install a 6116 (A10 on pin 19). Fit L1 if you install a > 4118 (I am not sure what pin 19 is, I can't find a 4118 data sheet, but > at least one schematic I have calls it 'E', presumably an active high > enable signal). Fit either or no links if you install 2 * 2114s. Never > fit both links, or you'll short A10 to the +5V rail. Today I checked out about two dozen ZX81/TS1000s. They've been piling up in a box and today I finally got to them. Here's what I found: All of the 1K boards had two 2114s and no jumper installed. All but one of the 2K boards had a single 2016 and L2 was installed. One 2K board had a 6116 and L2 was installed. The board was operational and appeared unmodified. I replaced a socketed 2016 on a working board with the 6116 pulled from the above-mentioned board, and the board still worked. So I think it's safe to say that L2 is required for a single-RAM-chip board, and that a 6116 is a drop-in replacement for a 2016. Never did see a 4118. Perhaps the use of it would change things, jumper-wise. Glen 0/0

24 years, 2 months

4
4
0 0

Pr1marily Contented (Longish)

by steven_j_robertson＠hotmail.com

>From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" <dquebbeman(a)acm.org> >Reply-To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org >To: "ClassicCmp List" <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> >Subject: Pr1marily Contented (Longish) >Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 23:23:03 -0500 > >Now that my Prime 2455 is fully operational again, I >want to thank everyone who offered advice here. After >giving up on repairing the power supply, I decided to >buy one. I assuming you don't need the one I have set aside? SteveRob _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Strange idea in VAX

by vance＠ikickass.org

Ok. I wonder what would happen if I stuck a DWBUA in the BI cage of my VAX 7000-650, and added a UNIBUS cabinet, then I were to take a Qniverter and add a Qbus framebuffer? Peace... Sridhar

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Douglas H. Quebbeman [mailto:dquebbeman@acm.org] > Chris Smith and I were discussing repair techniques offline, and the > above were amongst the discussed techniques. > However, I prefer erecting totems next to the troublesome devices... I still maintain the usefulness of runestones, incense, and rituals involving chant and the drawing of "signs of power" around the device. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 2 months

6
5
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 2, Christopher Smith wrote: > AT&T Unix PC. 512k to 4M of ram [usually 1M], 40 to 60M hard drive, > all in one system with a monochrome green screen, removable keyboard, > and 3 button mouse. It also had a 5.25" floppy. It ran Unix SystemV > R 3.0 or 3.5, I vaguely remember a port of some other system to run > on it. Check some of the web pages you can find. There was a built > in graphical windowing system, dynamically loadable drivers, and if > you could get the ethernet board, or extra serial ports, you could > run multi-user configurations. It could read/write (through special > bundled software) MS-DOS disks, and there was also a DOS board for it > with an 8088 CPU or something like that, and some RAM to let it > actually run DOS, and DOS apps. What wonderful machines these are. The first ones, though, shipped with 10MB drives, not 40MB, and it was SYSVR2, not 3. I sold these machines at a computer store when I was in high school, and later had one of my own as my first real UNIX machine. Stupidly I sold it many years ago. Thanks to the assistance of a fellow lister (hi Mark!) I finally have one now, which I will keep forever. -Dave -- Dave McGuire "...it's leaving me this unpleasant, St. Petersburg, FL damp feeling on my shorts..." -Sridhar

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: blacklord [mailto:blacklord@telstra.com] > And it's the best one (subjective) out of all the others so far > mentioned. An A1000 can still happily run just about anything you can > throw at it, plus it's emminently expandable. ... if you can find the expansions. :) Personally I like the Intergraph on my list. Never seen one, but if I had, I would own one by now. As for a more common system (more common than the Intergraph, not the Amiga), a UnixPC with 1 meg of ram, and maybe 60MB of disk will give you access to a really decent subset of available Unix (and possibly MS-DOS) software. It will also have a decent development environment, given the installation of a dev kit. On the other hand, the Atari ST plays quite a few more games. :) Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

On Mon, 1 Apr 2002 18:52:52 -0500 "Douglas H. Quebbeman" <dquebbeman(a)acm.org> writes: >> Anyone notice how commodity PCs have screws that have clearly > been *cast* onstead of *turned/Machined*? Everytime you thread > one into a hole, you generate a nice supply of metal shavings. > > Not good. > > To get back on topic, when did this trend start? The IBM PC, > PC/XT, and PC/AT used machined/turned fasteners. Lots of classic > non-consumer hardware used various "captive mechanisms" instead > of plain old screws and bolts. > > And how about sharp edges inside a chassis? Older hardware tends > to have spent a little time in the hands of a whitesmith, who > added lots of finishing detail like smooth edges that don't cut. I think this started when we (the U.S.A.) began importing parts made in communist countries. Jeff ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

24 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by blacklord＠telstra.com

> > Amiga. > And it's the best one (subjective) out of all the others so far mentioned. An A1000 can still happily run just about anything you can throw at it, plus it's emminently expandable. cheers, Lance ---------------- Powered by telstra.com

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Roger Merchberger [mailto:zmerch@30below.com] > (under OS-9) 512K Ram, hacked easily to 2M (recently hacked > to *64Meg*!!) Ok, when I get a CoCo 3, I want it to have 64M of RAM. How's it done? :) Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Dave McGuire [mailto:mcguire@neurotica.com] > What wonderful machines these are. The first ones, though, shipped > with 10MB drives, not 40MB, and it was SYSVR2, not 3. I don't doubt the 10M disk, but I've never seen anything below 3.0 for it. I have 3.5 on mine, with a 3.0 dev kit. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

DEC field veterans: what's KA64A's self test #21?

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

> Gunther Schadow wrote: > >do you know what the KA64A's self test #21 is? I have two of these >boards that just won't come up, they both stop at > >#123456789 0123456789 01 After an extensive trawl of the manuals, I think I've found something. This is, as you have said, failing test 21. This is Backup Tag Store Parity Error Test. Not a happy CPU, I would guess. I have no idea how repairable this is. To verify (for sure) you should have the yellow LED off (self-test failed) and the red LEDs below that reading OFF, ON, OFF, OFF, OFF, OFF, ON (which is 21 in BCD - no, I don't know why!) >system self test and get me to a console prompt, I get the error >that these two boards didn't get to console mode. What could be >wrong here? They almost certainly need the tender care of a soldering iron and a new chip or two. I have no schematics for these (I doubt that anyone other than the DEC repair centres ever did have these). Antonio

24 years, 2 months

14
32
0 0

IBM PS/1 Recovery/Install diskettes available

by r_beaudry＠hotmail.com

Hello all, A bit too new to be on topic, but... I was scrounging through some stuff yesterday, and unearthed a set of original diskettes for an IBM PS/1. One of the disks is labelled "IBM PS/1 Recovery Diskette" There are 13 more diskettes labelled "IBM Original PS/1 Software, Diskette X of 13", where X of course goes from 1 to 13 :-) They are also labelled "Version 2.2" and the latest copyright date is 1993. If anyone wants these diskettes, first come, first served, no charge except shipping... I did test them by copying them onto my hard drive, so they are readable... Rich B. _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Pr1marily Contented (Longish)

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

Now that my Prime 2455 is fully operational again, I want to thank everyone who offered advice here. After giving up on repairing the power supply, I decided to buy one. Had I known they'd only cost $100, I'd have bought one sooner. Well, that was my Christmas present to myself for Christmas 2000. It arrives, I install it, press the power button, and see a message from the VCP about it beginning its self-test. Then it completes, and then I get the date & time, and then... Then I get the "ON" LED flashing defiantly at a 2 Hz rate. Time passed, and I began to suspect that more than the PSU had gotten toasted. I intended to start saving money to shotgun the machine, board by board, until I had it running again. More time passed and no savings took place. Well, in steps a lister who I believe wishes to remain anonymous. Said lister faciliated the acquisition of said boards, NONE OF WHICH SOLVED THE PROBLEM! Not his fault, of course... and there is more of this part of the story I'll relate below, that should be of interest to all ClassicCmp listers. But I should thank the lister again, he knows who he is, and without his help, the Prime would still be an emotional singularity... Finally, again in desparation, I posted again to comp.sys.prime. This time, an owner of the same model I have, replies. Over the course of several dozen e-mails, we narrowed down the problem. As it turns out, the replacement PSU was either failing to ground or was in fact asserting a line known as BBUREQ+, which signals a battery backup problem to the virtual control panel. Grounding that pin got the system past the point in the boot where it would flash the LED. I suspect a forgotten FCO... More problems... it says it thinks its a 2450 and it can see it has 2455 parts, not right, won't boot. Swap VCP. Same. Swap in my original VCP. Ok, now it's happyy... nope, now the CPU won't verify. Swap in a second CPU board set. Nope. Ok, go for broke, swap in the remaining CPU board set, replace newly-provided CPU board interconnects (top hats) with my old ones. Replace my VCP-to-CPU cable with 3rd party cable. Now it's verifying the CPU ok, but can't autoboot from drive unit 0. I freak thinking it's the controller. Better that than the drive, tho... The bulkhead cable had gotten munged a bit, so I began to suspect it, and mangle it further trying to fix it. Still no good. Ok, stick a new connector on the cable. Nope. Remove and reseat the external cable to the duplex shoebox. Nope. Try different SCSI unit addresses... hey, that worked... But I can only see one drive. I mess around with various adresses, suspecting a dropped bit in the bad cable. Still can't get them both online. I finally ended up swapping the two unit select switches, or rather, the connectors, so that each drive was using the other's selectors. Then set them for the appropriate values. Bingo! Autoboot to unit 0 and unit 1 is also seen and mounted. So, I'm able to boot it into: Primos Rev. 23.4.Y2K.R1 Primos Rev. 20.0.8 Primos II Rev. 20 and these from either disk or tape. Whew! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Now, on to the part of the story that's widely applicable. Don't underestimate the potential usefulness of a 3rd-party service organization. The company in question services other stuff that they actually make money from. But they make no money from servicing Primes. They have a policy about repairs, as since these days, it's mostly remove & replace. Techs with experience are expensive so customers tend to do their own work. But this firm charges for a part IF and ONLY IF it effects a repair. Now, that's probably standard. But when a part doesn't fix the problem, this firm has no desire to incur the shipping costs of returning the part to them, and they sure as hell can't get the customer to pay for it if it doesn't contribute to the fix. So the upshot of this is that I got to keep all the spares, and the lister who facilitated this will be charged only for the time spent talking to a technician (who found the thing about the LED flash and what it meant *ABOUT 4 HOURS* after I got the system semi-operational as described above). >From the postings here, most of you would be a little better equipped (not much just a little) to financially faciliate a repair operation like this one became. But I suspect that like me, a 3rd-party servce organzation would be about the last thing you'd consider, as a hobbyist. You'd assume like I did that it would cost a fortune. But the technician I spoke to was also a preservationist (although now I forget what he likes!). So before you give up on that old iron and dump it, try calling for service, and when you get the technician, explain to *him* that you're non-commercial and can't afford much. You may just land a bargain. Regards, -doug q

24 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> On Mon, 1 Apr 2002, John Chris Wren wrote: > > > I do have one theory that applies to PCs and cars: If you fail to shed > > blood and appease the gods, it will not work when you're done. > > Absolutely. Although Sridhar and I have discussed the possibility of > offering up chicken blood instead.... Chris Smith and I were discussing repair techniques offline, and the above were amongst the discussed techniques. However, I prefer erecting totems next to the troublesome devices... ;) -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixsnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

Vector brochure

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

Does anybody want a 1976 brochure from vector? I'd prefer that it go to someone that will scan it and post it on the net. The brochure is six pages long and covers the well known S-100 vector boards, Slit-N-Wrap tools, ribbon cable making tools and other computer building goodies from 1976 and includes prices. there's also a price change sheet dated 1978. Picture at <http://home.cfl.rr.com/rigdon14/a6/vector.jpg>. Joe

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

"New" PDP-8

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Ethan Dicks <erd_6502(a)yahoo.com> >What else would be "useful" from a DECmate board? I agree about Depends on if it's a DMII or DMIII. The dmII had less integration so the 6120, eproms and likely a 6121 plus UARTs are available. The DMIII it will be the 6120 and maybe a 6121 plus 2882 and the eproms, though I'm less sure as it's been a long time since I've had to open one. Allison

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

> What are some good old computers manufactured in 1986? Well, since I don't think DEC was still making PDP-10's at that point, that means you're limited to various PDP-11's, VAXen, and the Macintosh. Zane

24 years, 2 months

4
3
0 0

OT: MS/Unisys Have Made My Day

by brian＠quarterbyte.com

> The M$ foot gets another dose of lead Ummm, Doc, I think you fell for an April Fools prank. If you view, say, http://www.wehavethewayout.com/xxx you get a standard IIS 404 page, and the HTTP response header say "Server: Microsoft-IIS/5.0" I think Microsoft learned its lesion when it took, what, a couple of years to migrate Hotmail off of Unix onto NT/2000? Or did I fall for the prank by responding? :/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- _| _| _| Brian Knittel / Quarterbyte Systems, Inc. _| _| _| Tel: 1-510-559-7930 Fax: 1-510-525-6889 _| _| _| Email: brian(a)quarterbyte.com _| _| _| http://www.quarterbyte.com

24 years, 2 months

6
6
0 0

CP/M and Imsai

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Don Caprio <caprio(a)dcms.com> >I purchased an Imsai 8080 and would like to run some version of CP/M. >Should I stick with Imsai's IMDOS, which we know works? If CP/M is doable >What version would be the best choice? Cpm is doable on ANY 8080/8085/z80/z180/z280 machine with the minimum of: 20k of ram {16k for V1.4} Console IO device {serial, parallel or video} Some form of block addressable mass storage device {disk, tape or rom/ramdisk} Nice to have: Boot prom/eprom (doesnt have to be big) Second port for printer hard disk >Does CP/M need some sort of BIOS like the PC? If so where do I get the BIOS >source in order to burn an EPROM? CP/M does (invented) the idea of a bios but.... it is not resident firmware as in PCs. It's loaded at boot time from mass storage. A BIOS for the DISK CONTROLLER and CONSOLE IO may or may not exist depending on YOUR specific configuration. S100 system could vary a lot and were not anything close to plug and play. However, you could write your own bios and there are plenty of examples out there as well as the docs needed. Allison

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: r. 'bear' stricklin [mailto:red@bears.org] > Surely not quite that large, though I guess he might have a > small desk. (; Judging from the size of the Onyx's, I got the impression that the machine was about twice that size, but admittedly, I haven't seen many good photos of them. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Soldering and other skills (was Re: QL-Quality (Was: ZX-81 Question))

by cdl＠proxima.ucsd.edu

> From: "Allison" <ajp166(a)bellatlantic.net> > To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Soldering and other skills (was Re: QL-Quality (Was: ZX-81 Question)) > Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 08:40:54 -0500 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > From: Chad Fernandez <fernande(a)internet1.net> > >How much lead does solder dor electronics contain? I thought only > >solder for pipes contained lead? > > The best alloy is 63/37 63%lead 37% tin. Common variety is 60/40. > > The lead is not a hazard by inhalation though some of the fluxes can be. > It is a contact hazard over time as it can be transfered from the skin > to lips and injested. Solution, wash hands after using. > > Solder for pipes, by mandate has been below 5% lead for years, it > used to be mostly lead {90/10}. But the replacement for lead in plumber's solder is cadmium. And cadmium is a pretty hazardous material itself. carl -- carl lowenstein marine physical lab u.c. san diego clowenstein(a)ucsd.edu

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Torquil MacCorkle III [mailto:torquil@rockbridge.net] > Which SGI would actually have an R2000? Um, none of them. IIRC, R3000 was the first chip that SGI used from MIPS. There are other systems that use them, including some (I have some r2ks, I think) made by MIPS, themselves. An SGI from that period is something like the IRIS 2000, or possibly by then IRIS 3000, which was very large and based around a motorola 68k chip of some sort. Great machines, but they don't fit your relatively low power requirement, and they're as large as your desk easily. :) Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by zmerch＠30below.com

Rumor has it that Christopher Smith may have mentioned these words: >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Roger Merchberger [mailto:zmerch@30below.com] > >> (under OS-9) 512K Ram, hacked easily to 2M (recently hacked >> to *64Meg*!!) > >Ok, when I get a CoCo 3, I want it to have 64M of RAM. How's >it done? :) http://home.wwdb.org/irgroup/nocan3b.html He's got it to 8Meg here, and said that 16Meg should be no problem... I could have sworn (albeit not with my life) that he had a proto running 64Meg, just to see if it could be done, but with a very quick perusal I couldn't find reference to it again... but I did find reference to RAMZilla, which didn't have a direct link, so I think that was associated with it somehow. Drat... but admittedly, *filling* 64Meg on a CoCo would be a chore in itself, unless you wanted one _big honkin'_ ramdrive. He's also got a wire-wrapped CoCo listed elsewhere on the page... Gotta get back to work, Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- Roger "Merch" Merchberger --- sysadmin, Iceberg Computers Recycling is good, right??? Ok, so I'll recycle an old .sig. If at first you don't succeed, nuclear warhead disarmament should *not* be your first career choice.

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

The Future End of Classic Computing

by mythtech＠mac.com

>In the Betamax case, the US Supreme court said that if there is ANY >legitimate use of a device, then it is legal, even if most uses are >illegal. And that's the way it SHOULD be. Prosecute the people for doing something illegal, NOT for owning or using a device that COULD be used for illegal purposes regardless of what they were using it for. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

OT: MS/Unisys Have Made My Day

by zmerch＠30below.com

And I just tested it... the website seems to be down. (Yes, I did try in both Nutscrape & Interment Exploder)... Hasty switchover, mayhaps? Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- Roger "Merch" Merchberger --- sysadmin, Iceberg Computers Recycling is good, right??? Ok, so I'll recycle an old .sig. If at first you don't succeed, nuclear warhead disarmament should *not* be your first career choice.

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

CP/M and Imsai

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Don Caprio [mailto:caprio@dcms.com] > I purchased an Imsai 8080 and would like to run some version of CP/M. > Should I stick with Imsai's IMDOS, which we know works? If > CP/M is doable > What version would be the best choice? Don't know. Sorry. > Does CP/M need some sort of BIOS like the PC? If so where do > I get the BIOS > source in order to burn an EPROM? This one I can answer. Yes, it does. -- and -- EPROM? Who needs an EPROM? (CP/M BIOS is stored on the floppy and loaded into RAM, generally.) Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> Doug, Anybody, > > Isn't 86 the year the Mac Plus came out? The original was 84, I know. > There was a model ot two inbetween the original and the Plus, but I'm > unsure the exact timing. > > If a Plus is the 86 computer, I do have an extra with addtional goodies. > It does have a slight screen fussiness in one corner of the display, > However. Yup, 86 is right for the Plus. And for Ethernet, you can get a box that hangs off the SCSI port and provides the Ethernet ability.... The device in question seems to have been made by one firm and rebadged and sold by others... Seems like "Nova" is part of the name of the one I've got. Mine has 10-Base-2 (coax) and AUI ports, so it'd need a transceiver to do 10-Base T, I suppose.... -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixsnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by brian＠quarterbyte.com

> But which would you guys consider to be the most modernly > functional one of the 1986 bunch? That would be you, Mr. MacCorkle.

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Ben Franchuk [mailto:bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca] > Now do you one with or with out TUBES? > Looking a list here http://members.iinet.net.au/~dgreen/timeline.html > 1956 was a great year for TUBE computers. > 1960 was a great year Transistor computers. ( Hmm I could get > a PDP-1 ) I suppose to commemorate my birth, I'll need to get an S-100 box of some sort, or possibly: A "DECStation" A PDP-11/60 A VAX-11/780 (...but what would I run on it? It would have to be RSTS/E, since VMS 1.0 hadn't been released, probably.) Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Ron Hudson [mailto:rhudson@cnonline.net] > Anybody got a spare ENIAC ? Not me... > Perhaps an abacus? Have one, also a small slide-rule but I'm kind of attached to them. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

UCSD P-System & "compile once, run anywhere"

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

I don't think the following post ever made it to the list, during the time my office's domain cesed to exist for a short time... > A friend was claiming that with the UCSD P-System, one could "compile once" > and then "run anywhere" (where "anywhere" means different kinds of > computers running the P-System, not different instances of > the same computer). > > Was this true? I've never seen it contradicted. [...until I saw some replies here...] > Did users commonly compile on system A and then take the P-Code to > system B and run it successfully? It wasn't likely common. [..aforementioned media problems interfered?..] > I'd have thought that media incompatibility would have tended to > limit this capability. Serial ports and modems would more or less get around this problem. [..but it would appear that serial ports baffle quite a few many people..] > Was any commerical P-System software sold that was a single binary, > but the vendor expected the user to be able to install/run it on > any brand/model of P-System? (Or, did vendors have to produce a version > for every platform?) The Smalltalk-80 System also used an interpreter, called the bytecode interpreter, and it was in fact common to take an application compiled on, say, a Xerox Dorado and run it on a Xerox Magnolia, or even a Tektronix box. I've seen references recently to an Alto version of Smalltalk-80 2.2, so the apps crafted at XSIS (Xerox Special Information Systems) like The Analyst(tm), might have been worked out on Altos then run at the The Company on Magnolias. -dq I know of at least 1 person who has a copy of The Analyst, which I almost bought in 1987 (I was just going to buy ASP, the Analyst Spreadsheet)... wish we could get him onboard in the preservationist movement -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixsnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Haestad Methods Email List

by info＠haestad.com

Your email address has been removed from our email list. Thank you, Haestad Methods http://www.haestad.com

24 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb