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

by marvin＠rain.org

This weekend, I was given MikroKolor Color Graphics Interface by the person who designed the hardware, Paul Andresen. The basic operation was to interface a TMS9918A VDP chip to a TRS-80, Apple II, and S-100, and the output was NTSC color composite video. A color modulator was required to interface it to a TV. A two part article was written for 80 Micro in 1982 by the person who wrote the software, James W. Cole. They took out full page ads under the name of "Andresen's Electronics Research & Development, Inc." >From their ad: "The MIKROKOLOR Color Graphics interface is designed to provide the new TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer with high resolution color graphics and text capability, utililizing a standard color television or color monitor. The MIKROKOLOR provides 256 x 192 graphics, with 15 colors plus transparent. Its 3 dimensional Sprite plances provide for simultaneous display of all levels. I has four modes of operation available: 1. Text mode: Provides 24 lines of 40 characters each using a 6 x 8 dot matrix, and provides 256 user devinable characters. 2. Multicolor mode: Provides 64 x 48 color graphics. 3. Graphics 1 mode: Provides 256 x 192 color graphics, 24 lines of 32 characters each, utilizing an 8 x 8 dot matrix with 2 colors per character. 4 Graphics 2 mode: Provides the same as Graphics 1 mode except allows 16 colors per character." I'm curious if anyone else on the list has one, and has anyone used the unit? It seems like it is a pretty neat unit!

24 years, 3 months

1
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Digital Machine - Cards I Can't Identify

by tarsi＠binhost.com

Greetings, all! I obtained a Cambridge Digital machine the other week at an auction for $25. I am going through the box to identify what is in it. Being new in the world of these sort of machines, I'm pretty clueless. I've figured out some of the cards, but the following I can't identify. Can anyone help me find out what they are and some docs or webpages about them? I have listed the card #, where it's located in the machine relative to the drives and the PSU, and any numbers, symbols, etc I have found on the card. I have also on some of them listed what they might possibly be. I have already figured out the processor card, which is an 11/73 processor (KDJ11-AA (M8192)) and the hard drive is a Fujitsu 2312K. The floppy controller is a Sigma Information Systems Floppy Controller. That and one of the cards is a DRV11-J. The memory is Chrislin Industries 512K board. The rest I'm rather clueless about. Thanks in advance, Nathan tarsi(a)binhost.com Card 1: Drive Side - Went to Tape Drive LSI-50 Alloy Eng C.P.D. DWG No. 100159 REV D LSI-50 S/N-342 (C)1981 USA FW100 159:37 REV 2.0 Card 2: Drive Side - 50 pin dual connectors Emulex Corp (C)1982 ASSY TU0210401 Rev E T/A Tc0210201-FSJ P.O.1446 3-25-87 Card 4 Right (Drive Side, Front Side) digital corp [CLKOVFL + STIOUT 40 pin connector (written) 76453 328D EP057 REV J 8-setting DIP Wire from the CLKOVFL to Card 4 Left Card 4 Left (Drive Side, PSU Side) Black Block1 (Smaller) DC/DC Converter DTI5060-D Block 2 (Larger) DTS710-DI-A DataTranslation EP077A 20-pin connectors RTC In from Card 4 Right (there was a wire connecting) Data Acquisition Module S/N 85874-345 EP073 REVJ (written) 85874-34J Card 6 - Drive Side - Almost same as Card 2 Emulex Corp, Santa Ana, CA ASSY SU0210401 REV G S/N 3332 on the biggest chip: TODASSY SC0210201-CXL S/N 73815 SUB ASSY 3332P REV G W/BOOT Ditronics 0284 WareExpo 5/85 Opposite side PWB SU0210701 REV B Card 7 Right (Drive Side, Front Side) - Terminal Card? (C)1982 Technical Magic Inc BOOT-HALT Jumper S/N 1018 12K BAUD Jumpers set 0-x,2-A,4-A,6-A 9-pin connectors The Tape Drive: Computer Peripherals Inc. TAPE Products Division Equip Ident NO BY5A3-B Series Code 08 P/N 77014021 S/N 1287 50W That's it! :) Thank you so much for anyone who can help! -- ---------------------------------------------- Homepage: http://tarsi.binhost.com binHOST.com: http://www.binhost.com Forever Beyond: http://www.foreverbeyond.org ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -- ---------------------------------------------- Homepage: http://tarsi.binhost.com binHOST.com: http://www.binhost.com Forever Beyond: http://www.foreverbeyond.org ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- -- ---------------------------------------------- Homepage: http://tarsi.binhost.com binHOST.com: http://www.binhost.com Forever Beyond: http://www.foreverbeyond.org ----------------------------------------------

24 years, 3 months

4
3
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European micro's

by kenziem＠sympatico.ca

It looks like I'll be making a trip to Europe in late May or June. The flight is to Amsterdam. Are there any places of interest to visit with regards to vintage computers, swap meets, or collectors with surplus wishing a small trade (fit in carry on)?

24 years, 3 months

2
1
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Data abstraction

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) <cisin(a)xenosoft.com> > Consider three hypothetical forms of source code: > > A: MOV AH, 2 > MOV DL, 41h > INT 21h > > B: MOV AH, 2 ; character display function > MOV DL, 'B' > INT 21h ; DOS API > > C: MOV AH, DISPLAY > MOV DL, OURCHAR > INT DOSSERVICES > > I prefer B, but there were a few cases where I felt that he was tending > towards C. (and plenty of times when I slip into writing A) Yeah, the book is pretty much type 'C' code. > Abstraction is very useful and necessary for some types of portability. > But I don't like to have to go thorough a separate .H file to find out > what the code is that is being abstracted. Yeah, it's a hassle, but I think it's worth it to get easily-portable code. Only a few lines need to be changed to move the code to another machine. All in all I would recommend this book. Plus you, Fred Cisin, got double kudos ;>) Glen 0/0

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Far-Out Languages (was: Write only programming)

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Sean 'Captain Napalm' Conner <spc(a)conman.org> > Then you haven't seen BrainFuck: > > http://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/bf/ > > And yes, you *can* get a compiler for BrainFuck. Why you would, is > another question. Holy Cow! Why on Earth would *anyone* use such a language, or spend the time to dream it up? I'd rather write machine code! Masochists! Glen 0/0

24 years, 4 months

3
2
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Need paper tape encoding format

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Feb 28, 11:50, Vintage Computer Festival wrote: > > Is there info somewhere that shows how symbols are encoded onto paper > tape? > > Ideally it would include the actual hole positions like so: > > 8 4 2 1 > A: * > B: * > C: * * > > (Note: this is not an actual example but just an example of the format > I'm looking for. Of course.) Lots of unix (including many BSD/Linux) systems have a program called ppt (usually in /usr/bin/games or similar) which takes an ASCII string and outputs a facsimile of paper tape. The dormat is just ASCII in binary form, with columns arranged exactly as your little sample above, except there are 8 columns, and a hole represents a '1'. What you do with the 8th coulmn depends; on PDP-8 systems the top bit was often set for ASCII (but it has special significance to binary loaders), on some systems it would be unused, on others it would be the parity bit. Do a Google search for "ppt paper tape" and you'll find info about "ppt". -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

24 years, 4 months

4
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NYTimes: A Long Time Ago, in a Lab Far Away...

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> From New York Times > A Long Time Ago, in a Lab Far Away . . . The Stewart Brand-penned article for Rolling Stone may be found at: http://www.wheels.org/spacewar/stone/rolling_stone.html -dq

24 years, 4 months

8
8
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HP IPC (Integral PC) documentation / instructions needed

by vassilip＠dsl.cis.upenn.edu

Hi, I have just acquired an IPC with the basic ROM, a 1Mb ram board and a second HP-IB board. I have downloaded the IPC images from the Peter Johnson's site but I can't get the IPC to read them. So I want to check whether the floppy drive works (the mechanism was stuck and I have to take it apart and clean/oil the mechanism). I guess that PAM is more or less useless, so I am trying to access the floppy from Basic. Basic looks similar to that of the Series 80, but I had no luck with the MASS STORAGE IS command. Is there a list of commands somewhere. Also I tried connecting a 9122D external HP-IB dual floppy, the system didn't seem to notice it was there. Finally, anybody knows how to format a floppy on the IPC? Thanks **vp

24 years, 4 months

4
4
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My last VMS question: %INIT-F-VOLINV, volume is not software enabled

by gunther＠aurora.regenstrief.org

Hi, last night was supposed to be the last time I was going to boot VMS before it will be forever banished from my house (because we finally have an Ultrix 4.5 tape and my uVAX-II runs NetBSD and Ultrix and can write to TK50 :-). The only reason I had to boot VMS once more was to write myself a uVAX diagnostic tape. And of course, whenever you start VMS you're in for trouble :-) I'll cut it short and ask your help for the following matter. Part of the diagnostics tape procedure is to initialize a file system on the TK50 with this command (I didn't invent this, it comes right from a DEC supplied DCL script.) $ INITIALIZE MUC6: ELAN When that runs the tape scrunches and spins happily until suddenly: %PBC0, Port is Reinitializing ( 45 Retries Left). Check the Error Log. %INIT-F-VOLINV, volume is not software enabled What the heck does that mean? Yes I have VOLPRO privilleges and I think the tape writes fine, as I have used it for other reads and writes. It happens with both VMS 7.1 and VMS 5.4. There is probably some "obvious" thing you have to do, but what? Here is the error log, if it tells you anything: ****** ENTRY 3677., ERROR SEQUENCE 110. LOGGED ON SID 0B000006 ERL$LOGSTATUS ENTRY KA64A CPU FW REV# 6. CONSOLE FW REV# 4.0 XMI NODE # 1. I/O SUB-SYSTEM, UNIT _MUC6: MSLG$L_CMD_REF 61F60004 ORB$L_OWNER 00000000 OWNER UIC [000,000] UCB$L_CHAR 0CC44038 DIRECTORY STRUCTURED SINGLE DIRECTORY "SEQUENTIAL BLOCK" ORIENTED FILE ORIENTED AVAILABLE ERROR LOGGING ALLOCATED CAPABLE OF INPUT CAPABLE OF OUTPUT UCB$L_OPCNT 00000029 41. QIO'S THIS UNIT UCB$W_ERRCNT 0003 3. ERRORS THIS UNIT UCB$W_STS 0810 ONLINE SOFTWARE VALID CDRP$L_MEDIA 00000000 CDRP$W_FUNC 000C READ PHYSICAL BLOCK CDRP$L_BCNT 00000050 TRANSFER SIZE 80. BYTE(S) CDRP$W_BOFF 0170 368. BYTE PAGE OFFSET CDRP$L_PID 0001000D REQUESTOR "PID" CDRP$Q_IOSB 000001F4 00000000 IOSB, 0. BYTE(S) TRANSFERRED I think it's got something to do with this "SOFTWARE VALID" status, but what is that and how can I convince this thing to go ahead? thanks for your help, this is just about the last time I'm going to bother you with my silly VMS questions. regards, -Gunther -- Gunther Schadow, M.D., Ph.D. gschadow(a)regenstrief.org Medical Information Scientist Regenstrief Institute for Health Care Adjunct Assistant Professor Indiana University School of Medicine tel:1(317)630-7960 http://aurora.regenstrief.org

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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Apple SCSI TermPWR; Was Re: This is funny (ebay)

by cdl＠proxima.ucsd.edu

> Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 02:18:26 -0600 (CST) > From: Doc <doc(a)mdrconsult.com> > To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: Apple SCSI TermPWR; Was Re: This is funny (ebay) > In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.4.21.0202231908120.394-100000(a)lanshark.lmi.net> > > OK, maybe my deal is related to that, maybe not. It's been bugging me > for a while, though. > I have a number of older Seagate Hawk narrow SCSI 1G-2G drives. I have > a couple of LC 475s, the SE/30, and a IIci. I've never gotten one of > the Seagates to work as the internal drive on any of the older Macs > without using a cable terminator. I've tried term power to drive, to > bus, from bus, and IIRC, one of the 1G Hawks allows term power both to > the drive and from the bus. Never works. Terminated cable always > works. > "Somebody 'splain this wonderment to me!" Easy. Some computers with internal SCSI drives do not have a separate terminator at the source (host adapter) end of the SCSI bus. They depend on a terminator being present in/on the first drive. With no terminator at all, the resting signal level on the SCSI bus is not pulled up (to about +3V) so the open-collector bus drivers on the host adapter or on the hard drive can't produce any detectable signal by pulling the bus lines down to ground. Computers that are built like this include some Macs, all NeXTs, and probably others that I don't know about. Not SparcStations, they have internal bus termination built onto the motherboard. < http:www.scsifaq.org> carl -- carl lowenstein marine physical lab u.c. san diego clowenstein(a)ucsd.edu

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Write only programming

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> On Fri, 1 Mar 2002, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > > > Edward Yourdon recounts an episode in one of his textbooks about a > > large assembly language program that was comment-free, except for > > a single line (don't know the real processor so I'm faking the > > instruction): > > Edward Yourdon. Isn't he the idiot that played Chicken Little before the > new "millennium" and screamed that everything run by computer was going > to break and we were all doomed as a species and we should all buy > thousands of gallons of water and tons of food and bury them along with > ourselves in a plastic bin somewhere out in the desert? perhaps, although that sounds more like james martin's style... Ken Olsen also said that no one would ever want a computer in their home, nonetheless the products created during his tenure remain very important, especially to people here. Hindsight's 20-20, and lots of people get stuck in their paradigms... > I don't think anything he says (or has ever said) has much relevance > anymore. No, like Brooks, he made points about the development of large-scale projects which remain valid. Yourdon certainly wasn't alone in the Y2K chiken-little mentality... and I don't feel inclined to consign them, lock, stock, and barrel, to perdition, not quite yet, anyway... :) -dq

24 years, 4 months

3
2
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Write only programming

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> On Fri, 1 Mar 2002, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > > > > I don't think anything he says (or has ever said) has much relevance > > > anymore. > > > > No, like Brooks, he made points about the development of large-scale > > projects which remain valid. Yourdon certainly wasn't alone in the > > Y2K chiken-little mentality... and I don't feel inclined to consign > > them, lock, stock, and barrel, to perdition, not quite yet, anyway... > > Look, as far as I'm concerned, anyone who thought the world would end > after the clocks turned to the year 2000 are idiots and deserve to be > ignored. Ah, c'mon... if a flat-earther suggests wearing seat belts is a Good Idea, you aren't going to stop wearing them, are you? ;) -dq

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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Write only programming

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

Rest In Peace, Ludwig Van Beethoven is correct. The programmer had finally figured out the original coder's intent, and found it had nothing to do with the program at all. The original coder seems to have been amused by seeing the composer's year of death at that address and added the comment. The point of the yarn was to be careful in relying on the comments. I've gone through source code where I had a historical trail of changes, and found that some programmers change the code but don't update the comments. They should be shot for this behavoir, but then there might not be enough programmers to go around... ...if only... -dq > -----Original Message----- > From: John Allain [mailto:allain@panix.com] > Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 10:15 AM > To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: Write only programming > > > > 1827: MOV AX,0001H ; R.I.P. L.V.B. > > Any guesses as to the comment's meaning? > > Didn't read it. Ludwig Van Beethoven (d.1827) seems > to work so the comment says nothing. IE 1827 is 1827. > > John A. >

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Data abstraction

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) <cisin(a)xenosoft.com> > Joe Campbell and I spent a fair amount of time together while he was > writing it, "RS232 Solution", and "Crafting C tools". I didn't completely > agree with his level of data abstraction. Fred, what do you mean here? Too abstract, or not abstract enough? The code *is* portable, which requires an certain degree of abstraction. Please clarify -- thanks. Glen 0/0

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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HP IPC (Integral PC) documentation / instructions needed

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Mar 2, 8:03, Zane H. Healy wrote: > I'm afraid I can't help you with your list of questions. However, I am > curious, where is this site? My wife just found me a 4th IPC a couple > weeks ago, and this one looks to have HP-UX 5.0 in ROM. It's on my list of > things to get checked out. http://www.coho.org/~pete/IPC/integral.html -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Recycle and Save! Laser Toner Refill Kits.

by adama＠cdmicro.com

Hello, <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Im looking for a contact that would be interested in receiving laser toner refill kits for their printers or resale. ADAM CDMicro (541) 471-4133 x3105 (fax#) (541) 471-8836 For more info. http://www.free-irewards.com/cgi-bin/adam/universal_toner_landing.html?m v_action=returncampaign=ltgrf

24 years, 4 months

3
2
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Far-Out Languages

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

Yeah-- After I posted that message, I looked it up. I was very surprised to find a web page for MOUSE, not to mention a personal web page for Peter Grogono, the guy who invented it! BTW-- He did write what I still consider to be the definitive introductory PASCAL text: _Programming_in_PASCAL_. Short. Concise. Just about everything you need to know, without reference to a specific implementation. Awesome book. They don't write 'em like that anymore-- it doesn't take up enough shelf space. Jeff On Fri, 01 Mar 2002 22:41:26 -0700 Ben Franchuk <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca> writes: > jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com wrote: > > > > This makes me think of another 'minimalist' language: > > MOUSE. I have a book about it here someplace. > > > > Of course, that been said, MOUSE is positively verbose > > by comparison . . . . > Somebody has updated it and cleaned up the code. search for it on > the > web. > > -- > Ben Franchuk - Dawn * 12/24 bit cpu * > www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk/index.html ________________________________________________________________ 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, 4 months

1
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The Computer Garage: Where in Kansas?

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

> I live in Kansas; where did Jim move to? > Jeff Yates Center. Southeast corner(ish), about 100 miles East of Wichita. -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw

24 years, 4 months

1
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Wanted: Win3.1 IE4 or 5 install cabs

by Robert_Feldman＠jdedwards.com

Bill, I sent you a private email this morning, but your mail system won't take delivery. Anyway, I have several unopened OEM CD's of IE4.01. Let me know if you want one. Bob -----Original Message----- From: Bill Pechter [mailto:pechter@bg-tc-ppp75.monmouth.com] Sent: Friday, March 01, 2002 3:27 PM To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org Subject: Re: Wanted: Win3.1 IE4 or 5 install cabs > I *believe* I have an original IE4 or 5 CD from M$. When I get home tonight I > will check out which version it is and if it has a version for Win 3.1 on it. > > Cheers, > > Bryan My ie4.01SP2 didn't have it... I may have found 5.0 on tucows. Bill -- d|i|g|i|t|a|l had it THEN. Don't you wish you could still buy it now! bpechter@shell.monmouth.com|pechter@ureach.com

24 years, 4 months

2
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The Computer Garage: Where in Kansas?

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

I live in Kansas; where did Jim move to? Jeff On Fri, 22 Feb 2002 16:00:39 -0800 (PST) "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh(a)aracnet.com> writes: > > > Jim and I are now working on getting the back rent paid. Once > that's > > > under control, we'll then start figuring out the best option for > getting > > > the collection back to his barn in Kansas. > > > > Hmm Red Slippers??? Well it worked from OZ. > > Better get more room out there, because on your way back you could > > make a few stops, wheel and deal and get twice the collection. :) > > Hmmm.... If Jim has a barn out in Kansas now, it sounds to me like > he needs > to stop by my storage units when he's retrieving his stuff. I've > got more > stuff I could dump on him (of course the last time it was his one > son taking > most of the stuff). > > Zane ________________________________________________________________ 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, 4 months

2
1
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Far-Out Languages (was: Write only programming)

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

This makes me think of another 'minimalist' language: MOUSE. I have a book about it here someplace. Of course, that been said, MOUSE is positively verbose by comparison . . . . On Fri, 1 Mar 2002 23:34:28 -0500 "Glen Goodwin" <acme_ent(a)bellsouth.net> writes: > > From: Sean 'Captain Napalm' Conner <spc(a)conman.org> > > > Then you haven't seen BrainFuck: > > > > http://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/bf/ > > > > And yes, you *can* get a compiler for BrainFuck. Why you would, > is > > another question. > > Holy Cow! Why on Earth would *anyone* use such a language, or spend > the > time to dream it up? I'd rather write machine code! > > Masochists! > > Glen > 0/0 > ________________________________________________________________ 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, 4 months

2
1
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Walnut Creek CP/M CDROM

by ysgdhio＠yahoo.com

I have a couple of extra copies of the November 1994 Walnut Creek CP/M CDROM available for a small fee. Reply by direct email. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - sign up for Fantasy Baseball http://sports.yahoo.com

24 years, 4 months

1
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Need Shugart 851 manual

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Joe <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com> > Are you still playing with the Z-100s? I gave mine to Glen Goodwin. > You've probably seen messages from him about them on the net. He's really > giving them a work out. Yeah, thanks Joe! These babies are *rock solid* and the docs are great! I'm still working on my email project -- using a Z-100 to handle email via TCP/IP. It appears no one has ever implemented TCP/IP on a Z-100, at least under CP/M-86. As nice as these machines are, I was really surprised to learn that there is no active Z-100 group, at least not that I can find. There is a usenet group which gets about one post each month. In contrast the ZX81, my first love, still has active user groups. Thanks again, Glen 0/0

24 years, 4 months

1
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Non-Sol version of SOLOS For Sale on E-Pay

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

I remember reading about this, I'm surprised they ever actually sold any: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2004920012 -dq

24 years, 4 months

3
2
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test - please ignore

by root＠ns2.ezwind.net

test from list admin - please ignore

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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IMSAI 8080

by caprio＠dcms.com

This may be a pipe dream but I've always wanted to get my hands on an IMSAI 8080. I used to work for an OEM and we rolled these out to clients by the hundreds. I would like to build an IMSAI. If you have any parts/systems for sale please email me with details. Thank you.

24 years, 4 months

5
4
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Write only programming

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> "R. D. Davis" <rdd(a)rddavis.org> wrote: > > Also, remember that obfuscated code is an art form that should bring > > bonuses and raises to programmers skilled in this art. Besides, a > > programmer who can't read so-called "difficult to read code," with no > > comments, isn't a real programmer. :-) > > No comments? I think you're forgetting the potential of comments as > things whose maintenance is a lesser priority and whose relationship > to the code may therefore differ from the reader's expectations. Edward Yourdon recounts an episode in one of his textbooks about a large assembly language program that was comment-free, except for a single line (don't know the real processor so I'm faking the instruction): 1827: MOV AX,0001H ; R.I.P. L.V.B. The programmer brought in to maintain this code was certain that this was the Rosetta Stone to the entire application; if he could figure it out, he'd have no trouble with this code. However, the final revelation wasn't very helpful, although he did give up and finally just immerse himself in the code to gain the understanding he'd vainly hoped he'd get from decyphering the comment. Any guesses as to the comment's meaning? No fair if you read the book and know the answer from that... ;)

24 years, 4 months

5
4
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Free stuff in Seattle

by mythtech＠mac.com

>Corona PC portable (looks like compaq portable) I just gave one of these to David W on Sunday... I have two more, but am missing the covers for them. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

24 years, 4 months

1
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Symbolics rescue (question about picture)

by mbg＠TheWorld.com

>RK03s >I haven't seen any on eBay ever, and I think that only a few people on >the list have them. I doubt I'll ever be able to find one. Count me as one of them... I have two on a LAB-8/E... Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg KB1FCA | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Write only programming

by fmc＠reanimators.org

"R. D. Davis" <rdd(a)rddavis.org> wrote: > Also, remember that obfuscated code is an art form that should bring > bonuses and raises to programmers skilled in this art. Besides, a > programmer who can't read so-called "difficult to read code," with no > comments, isn't a real programmer. :-) No comments? I think you're forgetting the potential of comments as things whose maintenance is a lesser priority and whose relationship to the code may therefore differ from the reader's expectations. -Frank McConnell

24 years, 4 months

5
4
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Packing suggestions (was Re: PDP11 Redux, or Behind-The-Scenes Bull)

by jwbirdsa＠picarefy.com

Regarding "foam-in-place": make sure the brand of foam you use is tough enough for the job! I recently received a machine whose plastic fascia had been somewhat munched despite the whole thing being foamed in place because the foam actually crushed somewhat due to the weight of the machine. --James B.

24 years, 4 months

1
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CORRECTION Re: A Few finds today some old/some new

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On March 1, Doc wrote: > That's the second time in two days that my ASSumption overrode what > was in front of my face, resulting in Hoof-In-Mouth disease. Your ass can ride something in front of your face? Man, you're a LOT more flexible than I am. -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL "Less talk. More synthohol." --Lt. Worf

24 years, 4 months

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RX02 Bootstrap

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Feb 28, 11:04, Andreas Freiherr wrote: > Pete, > > understand or agree with all you say. Except: > > > > Yes. But this is neither a typo nor a printing error. If you read four > > > blocks of 200(8) _words_ each, starting at zero, you fill exactly > > > 2000(8) _bytes_, and the next free location is 2000(8). As you state, > > > the printed version is prepared for conversion to single density (by > > > clearing the 400 bit in locations 2036 and 2072, right?) by reading in > > > four blocks... - So, the reason is somewhat similar to that for the > > > TS-11. > > > > Yes, but if it's single density, which is the only reason you'd read four > > sectors, the sectors are 128 bytes [100(8)] not 256, so it's still only > > 1000(8). > > Sure, you need not read four sectors if they are 200 words each, but as > we noted earlier, the routine will always read these four sectors (so > you need only change two words in order to switch to single density), > and if these four sectors happen to be from a double-density RX02, you > will want to have sufficient room for them. Er, read the code again. The double-density version only loads 2 sectors, in *all* the versions I've seen. 40 001122 120427 CMPB R4,#3 ; sectors 1 and 3 get done 40 001124 000003 > I haven't tried: is it possible to get a false error indication while > you are supposed to wait until the RXV11 has digested parameters like > sector / track number? From reading the docs, I would assume that the > only reason for the error bit to come on at this time might be an > invalid parameter like sector > 26, and in this case, you'll probably > better abort as well (sure, should not happen during boot...). So why > not just use this check every time you wait for the controller, once the > check is in the subroutine anyway? I haven't tried all the permutations to see what happens if you give garbage in response to a TR request, but the error only shows up ast the end in cases I have tried. It's almost impossible to test this by hand, as the controller doesn't wait forever; you only have a short time to respond to TR so you can't do it from, say, ODT or an 11/40 switch console. > But, you're right: savings aren't too extreme with this approach, as the > sequence BIT-BEQ-BMI takes three words, and a JSR would need two. In > turn, you need two additional words for a MOV #something,SP plus one for > the RTS, and there are four places with a BMI, so in total we save four > words by spending three: makes a total of one word saved. Didn't you say > something like this before? ;-) Something like that, yeah ;-) > Let me continue, and we can open a contest for writing the shortest > bootstrap! ;-) I used to do that with all sorts of small assembly-languge routines. My best was saving 200+ bytes out of 2048, in some Z80 code that one self-proclaimed expert (not the author) described as "a mastepiece of conciseness". -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

24 years, 4 months

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Need paper tape encoding format

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Mar 1, 9:00, Stan Barr wrote: > pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com (Pete Turnbull) said: > > Lots of unix (including many BSD/Linux) systems have a program called ppt > > (usually in /usr/bin/games or similar) which takes an ASCII string and > > outputs a facsimile of paper tape. > > Thanks for that, I just found it on this Linux box. "Man ppt" also > listed bcd which does the same for punched cards. And in case anyone thinks that's off-topic, this is the description from my Seventh Edition man page on ppt: bcd, ppt - convert to antique media So it was considered antiquated in 1979! -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

24 years, 4 months

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A Few finds today some old/some new

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

1. IBM Thinkpad 755c for $12.51 2. Commodore 1084 video monitor for $7 3. hp NetServer 4d/66LM for $33 4. Apple PowerPC 8100/80 tower traded 4 empty PC cases for it. 5. digital VT 420 - 2 for $1 each 6. digital VT 520 - 2 for $1 each 7. WYSE 30+ terminal for $1 8. hp Laserjet IIIp for $1

24 years, 4 months

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VS4000/60 docs available

by doc＠mdrconsult.com

Hi. I've seen this come up a couple of times with no real solution. I very generous somebody just emailed me the VAXstation 4000/60 "Owner's and System Installation Guide" (EK-PMARI-OM-001) and "Options Installation Guide" (EK-PMARI-IG-001) in Bookreader format. I don't have ftp or webserver space, but I'll be glad to share. I can read these in OSF or VMS, but does anyone know of a reader or conversion utility for Linux? If I had that, I'd see about putting them in PostScript or PDF. Doc

24 years, 4 months

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SGI Personal Iris 4D/35

by trip7294＠dowling.edu

Hi, We have a Personal Iris 4D/35 with a missing keyboard and mouse. Where and how can I find something that works? http://www.geocities.com/riskyfriends/

24 years, 4 months

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paging Jeff Kaneko

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

Jeff, If you're out there drop me a line. I've send you at lest four messages recently and I haven't gotten a reply. I don't know if the problem is your E-mail or mine or ????? Joe

24 years, 4 months

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Xenosoft? Re: Multiple floppies in one system?

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Joe <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com> > Fred, You've mentioned Xenosoft several times. How about telling us more > about it, such as what formats it supports, how much it costs and wheather > it supports the Compaticards? Funny you should mention this. I was looking through an old book-of-the-month club purchase, "C Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications," the other night and I found a plug for XenoSoft in it! Glen 0/0

24 years, 4 months

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Looking for Intersil ICL8048CCJE Log Amplifier Chip

by maintenance＠alfacolor.com

Can any one ponit toward a vendor that sells obsolete chips that might have this part. Thanks in advance.

24 years, 4 months

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Wanted: Win3.1 IE4 or 5 install cabs

by DAW＠yalepress3.unipress.yale.edu

> ---------- > From: Bill Pechter > > Folks -- > > I've been trying to find a copy of either ie4 or ie5 for Win3.1/Winnt35 > somewhere on the net. I tried the MS install setup.exe files and > they both timed out looking for the url. > > Anyone have them locally cached? I lost my set in a disk failure last > year. > > > Either url that works, ftp site, or cd copy would be fine. > > Bill > -- Have you tried 'The Internet Archive'? http://www.archive.org/index.html --- David A Woyciesjes --- C & IS Support Specialist --- Yale University Press --- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu --- (203) 432-0953 --- ICQ # - 90581 Mac OS X 10.1.2 - Darwin Kernel Version 5.2: Fri Dec 7 21:39:35 PST 2001 Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash

24 years, 4 months

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Non-Sol version of SOLOS For Sale on E-Pay

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> On Thu, 28 Feb 2002, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > > > I remember reading about this, I'm surprised they > > ever actually sold any: > > > > http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2004920012 > > It's just a third party ROM board that happens to have a SOLOS EPROM in > it. While you could speculate that Processor Technology sold this > (unlikely), it's more likely that some hacker back in the day put this > together. No, this was a product, listed in catalogs... my remark was meant to convey that, I just never figured they'd actually sell one, but this is it... -dq

24 years, 4 months

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Need Shugart 851 manual

by r_beaudry＠hotmail.com

From: Jeff Hellige <jhellige(a)earthlink.net> >Which manual are you looking for...the OEM or the Service >manual? Thanks to a generous list member, I have copies of both and >could photocopy them for you, with the exception of the large circuit >diagrams. Joe, And if you need the schematics, I have access to an 11"x17" photocopier, so I can get them to you.... Also, drop me a note off-line if you still need that YE-Data manual... Rich B. _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

24 years, 4 months

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Write only programming

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: John Chris Wren [mailto:jcwren@jcwren.com] > This is a personal tirade of mine. There is no such > thing as a language > that supports comments that can be considered write-only. There are > write-only programmers, but personally, I can't think of a > single language > that doesn't support comments in one form or another. From > using Forth with > shadow files to the latest and greatest 5GL languages, they > all support > comments. Feel free to show an example of a language that > doesn't support > comments, it will be new to me. Going back to intercal, it officially doesn't. There is a (convoluted, like everything else) way to make it ignore a line of code. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

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Write only programming

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Ben Franchuk [mailto:bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca] > How dare you call a programing languge that has the 'Come from' > statement > far right! get your compiler and start writing real code > http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/intercal/ That's not to mention the "PLEASE ABSTAIN FROM" directive... Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

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NYTimes: A Long Time Ago, in a Lab Far Away...

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> > The Stewart Brand-penned article for Rolling Stone > > 1972? That picture of the laptop is friggin' incredible. Yes, 1972, and what you saw was a mockup of Alan Kay's Dynabook, that being perhaps the best extant photo of said cardboard computer... -dq

24 years, 4 months

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Multiple floppies in one system?

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> > > ASSIGN D: C: > > > > > > Meaning D: would be the equivalent of C: > > > > Wow, sounds just like the DOS/CMD.EXE (NT, 2000) command called > > > > SUBST > > > > as in identical syntax... > > You're right. It's the SUBST command. There is no ASSIGN command (but it > sounded good). Actually, yes, there is... it had problems, SUBST was the cure? -dq

24 years, 4 months

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DEC BC09J cable

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Feb 28, 21:25, Tothwolf wrote: > On Thu, 28 Feb 2002, Pete Turnbull wrote: > > I believe the common order in the States is to swap orange and green > > pairs, which is T568A. > I haven't found 586A to be used more than 586B here in the US. Nearly > every ethernet installation I've worked on used 586B, but I have seen 586A > used quite abit for Token Ring over twisted pair. That's interesting. That's the first time I've ever heard an opinion direct from someone who uses the stuff. My belief was founded on things I've seen written by people who write standards or interpretations of them, no more than that. In other words, not people who actually do it. I always wondered why we'd do it differently. Perhaps we don't :-) -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

24 years, 4 months

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thinning out my Apollo collection

by wilby98＠yahoo.com

It is time for me to thin out my Apollo "herd". I have 8-Apollo's and plan on keeping only 2. They are DN3500's and DN3000's. Most are complete but a few are missing power supplies. I also have a bunch of keyboards, accessories. They were/are running the Domain OS (the ones I powered up). Most came from one source in the UK. You can see a picture at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~wstan/puters I am trying to make more room for my VAXen. Plus, I want to share and give others a chance to have one. They are here in Amsterdam, NL. I can help you with finding a freight forwarder if you want to go that route. Contact me directly for more information. Regards, -- Bill Amsterdam, NL

24 years, 4 months

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MZ3850

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On February 28, RMChadwick(a)aol.com wrote: > any body know what the instuction set for the MZ3850 CPU is or better still > sourse code for the racal RA6790/gm or variant of that rx so i can change the > cpu for one that works. I too have a Racal 6790/GM...if you find a solution to the Unobtainium Processor problem, please let me know. ;-) -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL "Less talk. More synthohol." --Lt. Worf

24 years, 4 months

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