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

by fmc＠reanimators.org

"Jason Willgruber" <roblwill(a)usaor.net> writes: > -Networking software compatible with the internal networking card (there"s a > plug next to the keyboard connector that looks like it wants to be connected > to some sort of network hub). Looks can be deceiving. That might be an HP-HIL connector -- does it have a picture of the corresponding plug with one or two dots on the cable, or maybe just the one or two dots? If so, it's HIL, and is there so you can hook up a Vectra HIL keyboard (as shipped with the real original Vectras that don't have alphabet soup after the word "Vectra") or an HIL mouse or an HIL monitor w/touchscreen. -Frank McConnell

27 years, 7 months

4
3
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ebay Altair Music Record

by cswiger＠wilma.widomaker.com

>The main hardware used was an ALTAIR 8800A Computer >(INTEL 8080 chip). The software was an MITS Package >I Monitor, enhanced with JAMON (written by Jerry A. Ford, >MITS Program #117752). The synthesizers consist of 3 >identical voice circuits (pictured on the front of the >album cover). This is an Altair controlled hardware synth I take it? Now *MY* Altair Synth (pardon the ego!) was all done in software, with a simple 8-bit d/a converter on an i/o port. It used 256 bytes of a waveform (fundamental sin(x) plus some harmonics) that were stepped thru by up to 4 pointers at various rates and added up to get 4 part harmony. Took a lot of instruction cycle counting to get the timing just right and was worked up to where one could, with a lot of tedious data entry, type in a Bach invention (#8 - was on 'Switched on Bach') and have it play perfectly. Now, being a 2Mhz machine it sang bass and tenor mostly. Spent many a long night getting one together for a school software contest and the prof. gave the prize to a lousy serial auto-baud detector (probably because HE suggested it). So we learned that demo's need BIG speakers to make an impression :)) A# = (12th root of 2) * 440Hz B = " * A# Chuck cswiger(a)widomaker.com

27 years, 7 months

1
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On topic: Serious static problem

by A_Finney＠wfi-inc.com

This is giving me fits. There's something strange with my minivan, that it generates a *ton* of static electricity whenever I drive even a few blocks. When I touch the metal of the door upon getting out, I get a shock that hurts all the way up to the shoulder. The real problem, and what makes this on topic, is that I use this vehicle to pick-up/transport my classic beauties everywhere. I'm terrified that I'm going to pick up that once-in-a-lifetime S-100 rescue or something and kill the guts with one of these lightning bolts. What I do now is keep a wrist-strap and a box of Bounce dryer sheets (don't laugh) in my jockey box. Does anyone know what could be causing this? Aaron C. Finney Systems Administrator WFI Incorporated ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "UNIX is an exponential algorithm with a seductively small constant."

27 years, 7 months

10
19
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Replacing 6550s

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

Doug Spence wrote: >> The original PET came with four different motherboard variations, viz: >> >> RAM = 6550, ROM = 6540 > > Both of my PETs are of this type, but one has the small keyboard and > internal tape drive, and the other has the big keyboard. Large keyboard on a machine that early is a new one on me! >> My own is the third of those, a 1978 revision (a pity in a way - the case >> has the old tape deck, the blue screen surround and serial number 1000035, >> one of the very first) > > Are you sure that 1000035 makes it one of the first? Perhaps it's one of > the first of that revision or something? Blue trim was dropped fairly early - both the machines we had at school were black trim - as was the rebadged cassette deck with the lift-the-lid eject mechanism, the latter being replaced by the C2N. I had always assummed that 1000035 meant the 35th machine with the 220-240V power supply. > My PETs are 0014090 (small keyboard) and 0020272 (large keyboard). Both > have the first motherboard variation, blue trim, and white screen. Help. We need the Anderson. Larry, where are you? Can you help on this? > Actually, IIRC my small-keyboard PET uses little rubber cups. But I > suppose there may be springs as well. The keyboard didn't work when I got > it, so I had to disassemble it and wipe the circuit board clean. I never > disassembled it beyond pulling the circuit board off. No rubber cups. Rubber cups or domes always in my experience give some sort of mechanical hysteresis when you press them. All PET keyboards I've used are smooth until they hit the stop. Small keyboard had little black rubber pads set into the plastic mouldings of the keys. >> The top 4 address lines are decoded on the mobo by a 74154 to give block >> select lines. The block select lines 0 (bottom 4K of RAM), 8 (screen >> memory) C, D, E (I think) and F do _not_ appear on the expansion connector. >> All others do. The rest of the address lines (0 to 11) are also present. > > Yup, you're right. Interestingly, Blocks 9, A, and B are listed as > "Expansion ROM" on my PET memory map... I had a dream a while back where > the university was throwing all kinds of neat old junk out, and I found a > horde of PET cartridges(!) that plugged into the side expansion port. > While I've never heard of such a thing, is there any reason a cartridge of > that type couldn't have been a reality? Only the lack of power. Flying lead from cartridge to 2nd cassette port is the usual solution AFAIK (it's what I did on my RAM expansion). No, I've never heard of ROM cartridges like this but I've met other things I think. ROM expansion usually went inside... >> When I added a 62256 to my 8K PET, I encoded the block select lines for 24K >> of RAM space and 8K of expansion ROM space (blocks 9 and A). Beware - POKE >> also fails here, not just PEEK, if you're accessing this RAM from BASIC. > > So you've actually already done something like this! Excellent! Indeed I have. Tony Duell helped with one or two tips, I think. Such as, 65256 doesn't work, use 62256 instead. And the way of avoiding the need for inverters if you use the right sort of gate when re-encoding your address (but I may have failed to implement that). > Why do POKE and PEEK fail there? Was that done on purpose or is it just > the result of something lame like using a signed value to represent > addresses? No, it's software. It was a feature that was supposed to prevent inquisitive geeks disassembling the BASIC ROM between $C000 and (I think) $E7FF. The OS ROMs, above $F000, were peekable, though, as was the I/O space in the E block. You could of course peek and poke the screen, $8000 - $83E7 inclusive. > I think *all* of the 6550s in that machine are duds, but I could move 4K > over from the working machine. (I've tried the dead ones in many, many > combinations but perhaps not all.) Zog! You'll have to pull block select 0 from somewhere on the motherboard then. You might as well take +5V from there while you're at it. I'll try and dig out my RAM expansion board, and work out what it did. Meanwhile, have fun! Philip.

27 years, 7 months

4
3
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Scanning Fiche

by Innfogra＠aol.com

Zane; I just got in the whse two reader printers (dry toner) that print on plain paper. I buy and sell microfilm equipment also. If you wanted to rig a parts scanner to a Microfilm reader I have both parts too. However I would recommend a service bureau that could turn the Microfilm into CDs. You should get high quality documents that way. This should not be too expensive, particularly if you have a lot of pages. Archiving technology has pretty much moved to CDs. Service companies that used to film documents nowadays image documents to CDs. I have one of these companies interested in purchasing one of the reader printers I got in. I expect to be talking with him tomorrow. I will ask about getting MF data into the computer, costs and turnaround. Paxton

27 years, 7 months

2
1
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ebay Altair Music Record

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< The correct URL is: < < http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=45456336 what the frap is it? peersonally if people post the item a short description of 25 words or less would be nice. Its a pain for me to crank up the winsock just to see what the silly thing is. < This is an incredible artifact. Then mine must be worth a bomb. then there are the two floppy roms (sheet disks with audio casette data on them).\ Allison

27 years, 7 months

3
2
0 0

Scanning Fiche

by adavie＠mad.scientist.com

I guess I'm being a bit whimsical. But I was intrigued and impressed with the recent NASA super-resolution images, generated from the Pathfinder pictures. The basic gist of it, as far as I understand it, is that given an unchanging target (the fiche, for example), you can build up a much higher resolution image than your scanner is capable of simply by making multiple scans and processing them together. Each will be offset from the others by fractions of a pixel (assuming you move the fiche ;). Software to combine multiple lores images into a highres image would be fairly straightforward. I guess the more scans you do, the better resolution you can obtain. Yes, its tedious - but should work. A -----Original Message----- From: Bill Richman <bill_r(a)inetnebr.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Monday, December 07, 1998 2:38 PM Subject: Re: Scanning Fiche >We installed a document imaging system at my office about a year ago; it >has a Kodak double-sided paper scanner and a fiche scanner. The fiche >scanner (admittedly low-budget compared to the $50K+ fully-automated >scanner) is called a "ScreenScan". It's basically a standard fiche >reader with what looks like the guts of a flatbed scanner mounted across >the front. You insert a sheet of fiche, position and focus the page you >want, and hit the "scan" button. It scans a linear image sensor array >like the one in a flatbed scanner down the screen from top to bottom, at >pretty much standard flatbed scanning speed. I think it's set up to do >200 or 300dpi; not the world's sharpest images, but most of this stuff >is just for backup records of stuff that happened 20 years ago, so it's >not critical that it be pretty - just readable. I wouldn't be surprised >if you could rig up something like this pretty easily yourself; pick up >one of the fiche viewers that they can't give away at most university >and government auctions, get a cheap flatbed scanner (even pretty good >new ones can be had for under $100), take the mechanism out of the case, >and bolt it to the front of the fiche viewer. You'd have to remove or >disable the light source, since the bulb in the fiche viewer provides >the illumination. I don't think you'd even have to mess with the focal >length much; the fiche viewers normally do a rear-projection on frosted >glass, and the scanner is set up to focus on a sheet of paper an inch or >two away from the sensor, so with a spacer or two it should just work. >That sounds like an interesting enough project that I might even build >one if I had anything on fiche to scan. (I'm more interested in getting >my 2,000-3,000 science fiction and computer books on CD-ROM, personally, >but I have yet to come up with a non-destructive method that's >reasonably fast. I could take them to work, use the hydraulic paper >cutter in the print shop to cut the spines off all of them, and then jam >them through the auto-feeder on the Kodak scanner, but I'd hate to. >I've even gone as far as scanning all sides of a couple of books and >using a 3D drawing program to make a rotatable, zoomable "virtual book" >that I could put on a "virtual shelf" in a "virtual library" and use as >an index to the scanned text, but there's still something about touching >an actual paper book that I can't let go of...) > >On Sun, 6 Dec 1998 15:15:17 -0800, Zane H. Healy wrote: > >>While this might be considered more than a little off topic, I don't think >>so, since a lot of us have classic computer documentation in the form of >>MicroFiche. Does anyone know of a method of scanning this stuff into a >>computer, or any idea as to what resolution of a scanner such a project >>would require? > > > -Bill Richman (bill_r(a)inetnebr.com) > http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r - Home of the COSMAC Elf Microcomputer > Simulator, Fun with Molten Metal, Orphaned Robots, and Technological Oddities. > >

27 years, 7 months

2
1
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Anyone have 1/83 Byte Mag?

by mmcmanus＠direct.ca

-----Original Message----- From: Richard A. Cini, Jr. <rcini(a)msn.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Sunday, December 06, 1998 1:11 PM Subject: Anyone have 1/83 Byte Mag? >Does anyone have the 1/83 issue of Byte Magazine? In it is part 3 of an >article by Steve Ciarcia about the MPX-16 PC-compatible SBC. I have parts 1 >and 2, so I need the third. > > Thanks! > >[ Rich Cini/WUGNET >[ ClubWin!/CW7 >[ MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking >[ Collector of "classic" computers >[ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ >[ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/pdp11/ ><================ reply separator =================> The local library has Byte on micrfiche. If you live in the Vancouver Area, you can get a printout or just read it. It is at the Surrey library in Guilford.

27 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

OT HP vectra networking

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Any idea where to get these any of these HIL devices? -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1> -----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Sunday, December 06, 1998 11:59 AM Subject: Re: OT HP vectra networking > >It's probably an HP-HIL (Hewlett-Packard Human Interface Link IIRC) >connector. This was an HP interface used for keyboards, mice, >touchscreens, digitising tablets, security dongles, etc. You can >daisy-chain several devices off the same connector. > >-tony > >

27 years, 7 months

2
1
0 0

Keyboards

by ddameron＠earthlink.net

At 01:13 PM 12/6/98 -0500, you wrote: >On a related note, wasn't there a electronics surplus dealer of some >sort, perhaps based in Massachusetts, called "Meshna"? I'm wondering if >someone knows whether they are still in business. Any web search turns >up nothing. > > > -- Stephen Dauphin Several years ago I looked for Meshna without luck. They had computer boards (transistor, TTL, etc and parts for a vector graphics terminal, Sanders IIRC. I think I had bought in the mid 70's a computer cassette deck, new in the box packed with foam cutouts from them. This has long vanished as well. I did find a similar company, B and F (Peabody, MA) thay still exists, www.BNFE.com. -Dave

27 years, 7 months

1
0
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system info request

by dogas＠leading.net

Thanks Allison & Tony for the info on the 8048. Allison, I got one of those infamous after the sale posts from the seller that he thought he might have the docs and if so would send them along. I'll certainly keep you in mind if this should transpire. Thanks again. - Mike:dogas@leading.net p.s. Anyone have the opcode listing for a 8048?

27 years, 7 months

3
3
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Keyboards

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Stephen Dauphin <ai705(a)osfn.org> writes: > On a related note, wasn't there a electronics surplus dealer of some > sort, perhaps based in Massachusetts, called "Meshna"? I'm wondering if > someone knows whether they are still in business. Any web search turns > up nothing. Here's info from one of their 1988 catalogs: John J. Meshna Jr., Inc. 19 Allerton Street Lynn, MA 01904 Tel: (617) 595-2275 -Frank McConnell

27 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Keyboards

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

Wow! WHat a blast from the past! I drooled over their catalog when I was a teenager . . . I haven't been able to locate them, either . . . Jeff On Sun, 6 Dec 1998 13:13:21 -0500 (EST) Stephen Dauphin <ai705(a)osfn.org> writes: >On Sat, 5 Dec 1998, dave dameron wrote: > >> Fair Radio sales has (in their last cat.) 3 parallel keyboards for >US$10, >> "Cheap" because "the IBM PC standard killed the market for them". >> They are at: www2.wcoil.com/~fairadio > >On a related note, wasn't there a electronics surplus dealer of some >sort, perhaps based in Massachusetts, called "Meshna"? I'm wondering ^^^^^^ >if >someone knows whether they are still in business. Any web search turns > >up nothing. > > > -- Stephen Dauphin > ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

27 years, 7 months

1
0
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system info request

by dogas＠leading.net

>> p.s. Anyone have the opcode listing for a 8048? > >There is a useful web site, >http://gruffle.comlab.ox.ac.uk/archive/cards.html That site was worth repeating for the benifit of this list... Thanks, Tony. - Mike: dogas(a)leading.net

27 years, 7 months

1
0
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Anyone have 1/83 Byte Mag?

by rcini＠msn.com

Does anyone have the 1/83 issue of Byte Magazine? In it is part 3 of an article by Steve Ciarcia about the MPX-16 PC-compatible SBC. I have parts 1 and 2, so I need the third. Thanks! [ Rich Cini/WUGNET [ ClubWin!/CW7 [ MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking [ Collector of "classic" computers [ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ [ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/pdp11/ <================ reply separator =================>

27 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Keyboards

by ddameron＠earthlink.net

Hi All, Fair Radio sales has (in their last cat.) 3 parallel keyboards for US$10, "Cheap" because "the IBM PC standard killed the market for them". They are at: www2.wcoil.com/~fairadio At 02:51 PM 12/5/98 -0500, you wrote: > >> > >> > A question for the collective wisdom and distributed awareness of >> > the list: >> > >> > Anybody ever run across parallel ASCII keyboards, something suitable -Dave

27 years, 7 months

3
2
0 0

RD54 on an RQDX3?

by cfandt＠netsync.net

Hi gang, I will buy an RD54 to replace that ornery RD53 on my MVII (recall we discussed the problem of the RD53 drive heads sticking a while back?) I just want to make sure that the RQDX3 EPROM versions on the controller will handle an RD54 drive. The version numbers are labeled as so: 285-E5 & 286-E5. I'm buying a spare RQDX3 controller board with these version numbers. The RQDX3 in the MVII have an older version # which I cannot recall at the moment. Already searched Sunsite and Tim's Micronotes. Nothing about the 285-E5 & 286-E5 numbers shows up. Back in October there was a ClassicCmp thread regarding handling of RX33 floppies. No comment about RD54's addressed. Thanks for the help. Regards, Chris -- -- Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net Member of Antique Wireless Association URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/

27 years, 7 months

2
1
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ebay Altair Music Record

by hhacker＠gte.net

The item number was not recognised when I tried to visit. William R. Buckley >Oops, meant that to go private. Oh well, but at least it will give you >listmembers interested in computerized music an idea of what this stuff is >going for ... at least on ebay :). > >> http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=4545633

27 years, 7 months

2
1
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What's a Lisp Machine?

by hhacker＠gte.net

I spoke with Chuck Fry, an old friend who once worked for Symbolics, and he gave some additional information regarding the Lisp engines produced at Symbolics. The Macintosh SBC was called the MacIvory. He gave some specifics about which of these devices which a computer collector might want, and this information will come in a later posting. Still, he said that the company is still in business, having been bought out by some individual but, that it is apparently nothing more than a maintenance operation. Still, when I get the telephone number of this person (he has an AOL account, as I understand), I will call him and see if he is aware of the availability of some MacIvory's and what one might cost. Chuck noted that the MacIvory worked only for nubus Mac's and that it had a tendency to crash MacOS. He said that the TI product was more resilient in hardware than MacIvory but, the condition was just the reverse for software executed on the respective machines. That is, the TI did not crash so often but, the applications were not so well developed or capable. William R. Buckley

27 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

System/23???

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

FWIW I got this from a friend at IBM. > >Joe, >Thanks for the offer but I have no interest in it a S/23. By the >way....Token ring didn't exist when we sold these things..I'm not sure what >he is referring to.

27 years, 7 months

2
2
0 0

Mosaic Twin

by kurtkilg＠geocities.com

On Sat, 5 Dec 1998 yowza(a)yowza.com wrote: > How similar is Star Office to Microsoft Office, BTW? Nowadays, with the advent of the GUI, look and feel lawsuits are meaningless. Everything looks the same anyway. > > -- Doug > > ---------------------------------------------------- Max Eskin | kurtkilgor(a)bigfoot.com | AOL: kurtkilgor

27 years, 7 months

2
1
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PET Video (was: Replacing 6550s) & 128

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

> From: Doug Spence <ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca> > Subject: Re: Replacing 6550s > (I especially find it cool that they list various part numbers for the > connector. :) ) Digikey is the best source for inexpensive PET compatible connectors. (1-800-DIGI-KEY) along with a ton of other cool parts. > > I just noticed for the first time (!) that the "PARALLEL USER PORT" has > pins labeled "T.V. Video", "T.V. Vertical", and "T.V. Horizontal"! Has > anyone actually connectd a TV or external monitor to a PET? There are plans for a composite video converter using those pins in Nick Hampshire's PET Revealed, I think it only works on the older 9" screen pets and not the 12" ones. The reason for it being on the user port was for deaier diagnostic testing. I'll scan the circuit and put it on-line tonite: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/petvideo.gif 0010010101011100101001010001010010101000101001010 > On Mon, 23 Nov 1998, Cameron Kaiser wrote: > > > I'm trying to find out what PET has a chiclet keyboard. I only know of the > > plastic bang-on-em keyboard PETs, not one with the rubber keys. > > There aren't any with rubber keys as far as I'm aware. The 'rubber part of the keys is on the boom of the key, which you don't see. The only Commodore computer with rubber keys that I have heard of is the Commodore 116. > > "chiclet keyboard" != "rubber keys", IMHO. I'm talking about the cute > multicoloured keyboard with the small plastic keys that are arranged in a > grid pattern. I call that a chiclet keyboard. The original PET 2001 (4k or 8k), and I saw a 'Teacher's PET' with such a keyboard too (proably had a newer motherboard though. In general they (calculator keyboard model PETs) were sold till about 1980 and are the origninal keyboard design. 0010010101011100101001010001010010101000101001010 > ::"chiclet keyboard" != "rubber keys", IMHO. I'm talking about the cute > ::multicoloured keyboard with the small plastic keys that are arranged in a > ::grid pattern. I call that a chiclet keyboard. > > Hmm, okay. But multicoloured? Which colours? Arranged how? Ummm they were all metallic tops, Red, Gold, Blue, Silver... Check out my PET page: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/pet.html You can see the colors pretty well on the first image. If you want exact placement I'll scan a keyboard layout from the PET user guide tonite: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/petkeys.gif 0010010101011100101001010001010010101000101001010 > From: Cameron Kaiser <ckaiser(a)oa.ptloma.edu> > Subject: Re: Commodore 128 stuff (was:St. Vincent DePaul Finds) > > ::It's a fast-loader for the 128 (that's where the Mach comes in , the 64 > ::version was called Mach 5) It might also be a program freezer/utility. Put it > ::in your 128 and push the reset button, some of these will present a menu (for > ::save options and such). The switch is probably to select whether the cart is > ::active or not. Best not to switch it while the computer is on. > > Gosh, Larry, don't you want to live dangerously? Switching EXROM and GAME > in realtime? Live a little! ;-) After a few Commodore (PET, 64, 128D and Amiga 1000) mishaps between me, my brother and a couple friends, I have become much more careful. I do not want to be the holder of the 'golden butterknife' (yeah, that one went over your head, it's a long story.)

27 years, 7 months

4
3
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Replacing 6550s

by ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca

Hi all! Thanks to everyone who supplied information regarding the differences between the 6550 and 2114 (especially Ethan who supplied pinouts). I'm wondering if it would be possible to replace the RAM in an old PET with a modern SRAM by use of some kind of plug-in adapter. An example of what I'm thinking of is the SIMMfonie or AmiFast Zip-to-SIMM adapters for the Amiga 3000. Could something like this be built that would plug into the 16 22-pin sockets on the PET motherboard, and lead to a single modern SRAM? Possibly with the addition of a couple of clip-on leads to get two more address lines to the RAM adapter so that the PET could have 32K. My general preference is to keep things original, but functional is always better than non-functional and something like this adapter would be removable if I ever found the proper chips. The life of a chicklet-keyboard PET may depend on this. :) -- Doug Spence ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/

27 years, 7 months

6
13
0 0

system info request

by gareth.knight2＠which.net

Greetz all, I'm buying an old 486 and want to try some of the FREE alternative OS' (no Microsoft stuff thank you) that are available for it. Operating systems such as GEM, QNX, OS/2 and GEOS. Can anyone recommend any other that can be run, such as embedded or old operating systems? -- Gareth Knight Amiga Interactive Guide | ICQ No. 24185856 http://welcome.to/aig | "Shine on your star"

27 years, 7 months

4
3
0 0

HP Vectra networking (26 days OT)

by roblwill＠usaor.net

This is about 26 days off-topic. I have an old HP Vectra RS/25-c 386-25/1MB RAM, 100MB HD, 1.2 MB floppy. (BIOS dated 1989). I"m trying to get it set up as a home server, but I first need a few things: -Setup software. -Networking software compatible with the internal networking card (there"s a plug next to the keyboard connector that looks like it wants to be connected to some sort of network hub). -An old Vectra keyboard? Can't get the numeric keypad to work on the keyboard I have. -Networking hardware (mainly a hub and network cards) I have a copy of DR-DOS 7.x with networking extensions. Will this work with the Vectra (haven"t installed it yet)? For one thing, I don"t even know if there"s something in setup that enables/disables the network card. I"d like to use the built-in card, since most of the networked computers will be 8086"s -286"s, and speed isn"t an issue. ThAnX, -- -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1>

27 years, 7 months

2
1
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What a coincidence

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< which I've not seen on 1's. If the indicator has turned, it's a good be < the pack has problems, but not always. Anyone know how hard it is to < re-balance a pack? The shock indicator was purchasable before it became standard. It's not a matter of balance, were talking warped. If dropped at various angles the 14" platter can become seriously nonplanar and kill the heads. Allison

27 years, 7 months

1
0
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ot by 28 days - the 386 Vectra

by jim＠calico.litterbox.com

HP has very good support web pages. Vectras appear to be at http://www.support.vectra.hp.com:8001/ They don't seem to have a lot of stuff prior to the 486 era, but there are some references to 386s. -- Jim Strickland jim(a)DIESPAMMERSCUMcalico.litterbox.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vote Meadocrat! Bill and Opus in 2000 - Who ELSE is there? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

27 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

System/23???

by rcini＠msn.com

On Dec 1998 13:05:24 -0600, Russ Blakeman <rhblake(a)bigfoot.com> wrote: >>Ok here's one for all those of you familiar with the older IBM iron. I >>have just fallen into a unit that looks much like a TRS-80 model 3 or 4 {snip} That's the somewhat famous Datamaster. I have one, and I have some diskettes, but I have a bad ROM, so it doesn't boot. The Datamaster is a desktop office machine. From what I understand, it did word processing and accounting functions. It has a built-in BASIC interpreter, so you can do some programming. It's based on the 8085 (Intel house numbered). I can't seem to find the correspondence that I had with the guy I got mine from, but his wife worked on the development team. The 23 was the immediate predecessor to the PC. [ Rich Cini/WUGNET [ ClubWin!/CW7 [ MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking [ Collector of "classic" computers [ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ [ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/pdp11/ <================ reply separator =================>

27 years, 7 months

2
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OT: What if Dr. Seuss wrote computer manuals?

by manney＠lrbcg.com

Actually, I was reminded of +ACI-Iolanthe+ACI-. manney +AD4APg- +AD4-What if Dr. Seuss Wrote a Computer Manual??? +AD4- +AD4-Actually, that poem scans to Gilbert +ACY- Sullivan, rather than to Dr. +AD4-Seuss. Specifically +ACI-Modern Major General+ACI-. The same tune as Tom +AD4-Lehrer's +ACI-The Elements+ACI-. Or the (ancient) filk song +ACI-I've Built a +AD4-Better Model Than the One at Data General+ACI-. +AD4--- +AD4-Ward Griffiths +ADw-mailto:gram+AEA-cnct.com+AD4- +ADw-http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/+AD4- +AD4- +AD4-WARNING: The Attorney General has determined that Alcohol, Tobacco, +AD4-and Firearms can be hazardous to your health -- and get away with it. +AD4-

27 years, 7 months

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VAX collectors attention

by geoffrob＠stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au

-----Original Message----- From: Huw Davies <H.Davies(a)latrobe.edu.au> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Thursday, 3 December 1998 14:54 Subject: Re: VAX collectors attention >Excuse me, I've still got one in production and a couple of spares in my >"spares" room.... I think you should open your spares room to the public and charge admission. :^) >>Allison or one of the other Master Decologists will doubtless correct any >>mistakes in the above. :^) > >Well I'm not Allison :-) No, but it's a safe bet you fit the "or one of the other" etc. option. :^) cheers Geoff Roberts Computer Systems Manager Saint Marks College Port Pirie South Australia. My ICQ# is 1970476 Ph. 61-411-623-978 (Mobile) 61-8-8633-0619 (Home) 61-8-8633-8834 (Work-Direct) 61-8-8633-0104 (Fax)

27 years, 7 months

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system info request

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< I'm buying an old 486 and want to try some of the FREE alternative OS' ( < Microsoft stuff thank you) that are available for it. Operating systems < as GEM, QNX, OS/2 and GEOS. Can anyone recommend any other that can be r < such as embedded or old operating systems? If you have at least 8meg of ram in that 486 try Linux, Freebsd, OpenBSD or NetBSD. These are all free (maybe a few dollars for the CDrom) and represent high performance unix operating systems of various flavors that are mostly similar if not the same. I'm not a unix fan but compared to MSwinders and the dos similars (other than OS/2 warp or concurrent cpm) it's a real screamer. Another one if your interested in OS internals is Minix, the disk set to install on a 486 is only a dozen floppies and it will fit with sources on a 40mb drive. It's unix but simpler, of the V6 flavor. it's simplicity makes it quite fast! Allison

27 years, 7 months

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Documentation Available

by A_Finney＠wfi-inc.com

I finally put up some new shelves and was able to go through a few boxes of books today. What I ended up with was a few spare things, which are available to anyone who wants to pay shipping. Anything unwanted will go to the recycling bin for Tuesday morning's pickup... SunOS 4.1 System Manual, volumes I and II (missing III, it may be here) SunOS 4.0 Network Administrator's Guide SunView Programmers Guide (above are in large 3-ring binders) Sperry PC-IT Manual set (System Guide, DOS, BASIC mini-binders in boxes) Please contact me privately... Aaron C. Finney Systems Administrator WFI Incorporated ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "UNIX is an exponential algorithm with a seductively small constant."

27 years, 7 months

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new hamfest additions

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

good size hamfest in greensboro, nc and here is what i picked up. epson hx20 complete with plastic carrying case. where can i get the tiny cassette tapes for it and it also has a expansion unit added on the left. what does that do? no ac adaptor to test yet. the guy also had a commodore sx64, but too expensive. also picked up a ps2 model 60 that worked fine once i ran reconfig on it. an interesting find is a complete ti99/4a system still sealed in its box along with the expansion unit and optional floppy drive, all for $15. the 3 boxes were never opened until i did it. it's the beige model rebadged by CDC for schools here in raleigh. i also got ~50 disk based school software titles for it as well. all of it's worthless of course, but interesting to find something well over 10 years old and never saw the light of day until now. david

27 years, 7 months

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System/23???

by Innfogra＠aol.com

I believe the two 9 pin connectors went to a printer and to a modem if you needed one. Prob. both are serial ports. I may have printer cables in my whse. Paxton reply to whoagiii(a)aol.com if interested. Portland, Oregon

27 years, 7 months

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system info request

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< I just pick up a new, which is to say, old system. Of course, it has n < suppoting information. I bought it as an 'IMSAI 8048 controll computer' < Its in a nodescript molded black hardshell case, has a hex machine codin < panel/keyboard and nine digit led display. Opening it up reveals a sing < board system +- power supply. Primary chips on the board are i D8243, < D8279-5 (sublabled 4404A hmmm...), and a NEC D8035LC. At the bottom of < board: c 1977 IMSAI MFG CORP., SAN LEARNDRO, CA... and this at opposit < corner: 8048cc REV. 1 AR 1. I have one operating! What I don't have is docs other than my memory. I post quarterly or so a "anyone seen dos for this one" request. What it has... 2k of ram that you can run programs from a 1k monitor that can save to cassette and TTY/papertape. The interfaces include OPTO isolated, relays, TTY 20mA currentloop interface and also a audio casette interface. It was a foray into 8035/8048 SBC market. Allison

27 years, 7 months

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system info request

by dogas＠leading.net

Hi gang I just pick up a new, which is to say, old system. Of course, it has no suppoting information. I bought it as an 'IMSAI 8048 controll computer'. Its in a nodescript molded black hardshell case, has a hex machine coding panel/keyboard and nine digit led display. Opening it up reveals a single board system +- power supply. Primary chips on the board are i D8243, i D8279-5 (sublabled 4404A hmmm...), and a NEC D8035LC. At the bottom of the board: c 1977 IMSAI MFG CORP., SAN LEARNDRO, CA... and this at opposite corner: 8048cc REV. 1 AR 1. Did that send anyone into a flashback??? Thanks - Mike: dogas+AEA-leading.net

27 years, 7 months

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What a coincidence

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>BTW - same store recently got in some disk packs, RL01K-DC >for DEC. They're selling them for $5. What was the capacity >of those things? 5, 10 MB ?? RL01's are 5 Megabytes - 10240 512-byte blocks, to be exact. You can still buy them new, from DECDirect (1-800-Digital), for ~US$200 a pop. Tim.

27 years, 7 months

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old(ish) computers for sale

by Marion.Bates＠Dartmouth.EDU

Hey all -- sorry if this is uninteresting -- I have no idea about the age/value/rarity of these machines, but the CS dept here is selling them, and if anyone's interested, email me privately. This is forwarded from the lab admin. -- MB ---------- * DecStation 500 - the old risc (not alpha) Dec, with keyboard, mouse, and video cables, but without monitor and scsi disk. Apparently these run FreeBSD, though I have never tried it. They don't run Linux. $100 each. * Sun IPC - one of the early sparc architecture machines, it is old enough that most people have never heard of it. I believe that it won't run the newest Sun OS. With a huge 19" or so color monitor, 16 meg memory, and hard drive. One only. $250 * Mac IIci - I have about ten of these puppies, no monitors, but probably a mouse and keyboard if you act fast. $35 * Sun computation center - a Sun-60 desktop server with scsi disk, a sun-120 vme-bus machine with non scsi tape controller, and a 9 track reel-to-reel tape drive. You must remove the (very heavy) tape drive from the rack that it is in. This was much faster than the Vax 11-780 that used to be the heavy Unix machine on campus, back in '89. $250 takes it all. Bring a truck. Small print: All sales are final. This equipment is sold "as is" with absolutely no warranty. I am not able to answer any questions about software installation or setup. You can try the equipment if you want to do all the lugging. The equipment must be removed from Sudikoff Lab within a month - if I find it around after that I will throw it away! There may be viable operating systems on the disks of any machines with disks, but I am not selling any rights to use the software or offering upgrades or replacements. (I believe that the Sun right to use goes with the equipment.) Prices are negotiable. In cases where a disk is included I will sell the item for substantially less without the disk or disk enclosure. If you have to ask how, it is probably not for you....

27 years, 7 months

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Keyboards

by cube＠msn.fullfeed.com

I built one, once upon a time, out of a Univac keypunch keyboard and some TTL logic. Worked great. Used it on my Altair for years Really nice LOUD CLICKS. Loved it. I suspect this would be tough to do with a modern PC keyboard, but if you look at really old stuff (like at a state/university surplus sale or some such) you might find something. Jay At 05:05 AM 12/5/98 -0500, cswiger wrote: >A question for the collective wisdom and distributed awareness of >the list: > >Anybody ever run across parallel ASCII keyboards, something suitable >for interfracing to a 6820 port? Serial terminals & kbrds seem much >more common - kbrd isn't really a bandwidth hog - but all my software >was coded for a parallel port.. Currently I'm using the joystick ports >of an Atari 800 (another 6820) - which is actually kinda nice >(a programmable keyboard!) but would eventually like to find the >real thing. > >tia > > Chuck > cswiger(a)widomaker.com >

27 years, 7 months

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IBM 5161

by Innfogra＠aol.com

I probably have a couple of cables. Paxton If interested please reply to whoagiii(a)aol.com

27 years, 7 months

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DG Aviion video

by dburrows＠netpath.net

>When I was a student, and when I was supervising students, practical >jokes were _expected_. There were rules, like no permanent damage (to >physical items or data (like computer files)). Nothing against the law. >Nothing _too_ dangerous. > >And yes, I've been caught by practical jokes. And yes, I laughed >afterwards - and then played a joke in return. Like tossing charged capacitors across the room to them? Or hooking a LARGE choke and a battery to a doorknob? I would never do such a thing.:) Dan

27 years, 7 months

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Compaq SLT/286

by max82＠surfree.com

Well, unfortunately, I replied to Russ's offer for a laptop dock onto the list. Not only that, I included a joke that I was glad that it's available but Russ would overprice it. If this went directly to Russ he would have gotten it, but on the list it makes it seem like he actually overpriced it. Sorry.

27 years, 7 months

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OT: What if Dr. Seuss wrote computer manuals?

by manney＠lrbcg.com

Oh, on second though -- not offtopic. Dr. Seuss is >10 yrs old. <g> >What if Dr. Seuss Wrote a Computer Manual??? > >1) If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port, and the bus is >interrupted as a very last resort, and the address of the memory makes >your floppy disk abort, then the socket packet pocket has an error to >report. > >2) If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, and the >double-click icon puts your window in the trash, and your data is >corrupted cause the index doesn't hash, then your situation's hopeless >and your system's gonna crash! > >3) If the label on the cable on the table at your house, says the >network is connected to the button on your mouse, but your packets >want to tunnel on another protocol, that's repeatedly rejected by the >printer down the hall, and your screen is all distorted by the side >effects of gauss, so your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse, >then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang, cause as sure as >I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang! > >4) When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk, and the >microcode instructions cause unnecessary risk, then you have to flash >your memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM. Quickly turn off the >computer and be sure to tell your Mom.

27 years, 7 months

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SCO Unix anyone?

by kyrrin＠bluefeathertech.com

A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 755 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/attachments/19981204/7aa9a83b/at…

27 years, 7 months

1
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IBM 5161

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

i have a few of these extender and reciever cards if anyone wants to strike a deal with me. david In a message dated 98-12-04 22:00:13 EST, you write: > They're also not that useful unless you also can get the 'extender' card > that goes in the PC or XT motherboard. The cable can be made (but it's > nice to find a real one), but the card is quite complex. >

27 years, 7 months

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IBM 5161

by jolminkh＠nsw.bigpond.net.au

And I have a spare cable if anyone is desparate. >i have a few of these extender and reciever cards if anyone wants to strike a >deal with me. >

27 years, 7 months

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DG Aviion video

by zmerch＠30below.com

Once upon a midnight dreary, Tony Duell had spoken clearly: >> CoCo-ish question... tho CoCoists (IMHO) aren't quite as rabid as some >> other platform gurus...) > >Speak for yourself. _I_ grew up hacking the coco and I was rabid enough >to be one of the few people in the UK to have a CoCo3. Still have it. >Still love OS-9. But I'm not on the CoCo mailing list (too many machines, >too many mailing lists, my mail is bad enough as it is...) Oh, my CoCo3 is still set up in my office, next to "Goon" (my Clone -- hey, I just thought of this: I know a lot of folks who call BMW cars "bimmers"... would IBM clones rightly be called "bummers"??? ;-). My CoCo2 is still set up back at my "hacker" workbench, with the EPROM programmer (hopefully) eternally affixed to it's cartridge port -- the keyboard felt like someone dumped Pepsi & sand in it... rebuilt it; now it's one of the nicest CoCo keyboards I own. My CoCo1 is set up in my bedroom set up to the Plug-n-Power, and controls some of the lights in my house. Oh, and kiddies, cover your eyes: "Gates be damned... all of my CoCos now have Extended Basic... Couldn't buy it at RS, so what else am I gonna use my EPROMS for??? ;-) Besides, I do own more copies (I have 4 more CoCos) than I use at one time... just not in the right boxes! However, on the CoCo lists I've been on over the years, if a CoCoNut had an Amiga, he wouldn't get receive a second port to his/her posterior... many of the Amigans I've met, while generally wholesome individuals, were quite "ahem... less than goodnatured" when the found out an Amiga was not your sole platform. Of course, this is only my experience, and nowadays it doesn't seem like that anymore... so YMMV, and all that jazz. Just my obversations & opinions... AAMAF, I'm looking to acquire an Amiga 1200 & lotsa stuff with it, and have received a great deal of help from others lately on advice of this new, uncharted universe (well, for me...) >> If it is a Dallas 12887 (without the "A" suffix), I can tell you this: >> beware of the Dallas 12887. The 12887 has one shortcoming: the NVRAM >> *cannot* be reset via external means, which means if whatever machine has > >Do you mean the chip can get into a state where normal writes to the chip >fail, or that there's no way of clearing the chip other than by writing >to it. The latter could prevent a PC from booting, but if you remove the >chip and zero it in a programmer, then it would probably be OK. I was speaking of the latter, but how many "bummer" owners have a programmer that can successfully write to that chip? Ahhh... wait... this is Tony. O.K. -- How many _beginner / novice / PC only_ "bummer" owners.... etc. Outside of this list, I don't know of anyone who could diagnose a problem relating to this chip; and I'm not sure that any of the programmers _I_ own could successfully zero this chip, either. (Sorry to be down on this, but I deal day-in-and-out with folks who call me with: Them: "I couldn't get my Internet running..." Me: "Did you right click on [insert gizmo here]" Them: "What's a right-click?" Me: "That's when you push the right button of the mouse" Them: "What's a mouse?" :-/ ) Most of the folks I deal with don't know PCB stands for "Printed Circuit Board" let alone "Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls" (toxic flame retardant). Just my (pessimistic) opinion... ;-) See ya, Roger "Merch" Merchberger

27 years, 7 months

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Off topic -- playing with electrons (was Re: DG Aviion video)

by dburrows＠netpath.net

>It was in the USAF electronics tech school where we used to play >catch with capacitors. And worse. Caps weren't known as >"rectum-fires" for nothing. Another words you fished the leads up through the holes in the lab stools as well? Dan

27 years, 7 months

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DG Aviion video

by kurtkilg＠geocities.com

No, I'm a student. I can get in trouble for that kind of stuff :) Teacher: Why did you do that, Max? You can get into serious trouble for this! Me: It's just a harmless joke...look! (I demonstrate) Teacher: You know what, Max? Go home! (says jeez and rubs his eyes in the background) >Looks like you like to play tricks on users as well. Dan >

27 years, 7 months

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DG Aviion video

by dburrows＠netpath.net

>Oh no... My jokes were a little more subtle... I still laugh thinking about the people that tried to figure out how they were getting shocked when they let go of the doornob not when they initially touched it. It was especially good to watch the person that just got shocked, when some new person grabs the doornob and just holds it while the first tries to warn them. >The -ve resistance battery was one such (an empty battery casing >containing a couple on 9V batteries and a little circuit so the voltage >would rise on load). Drives people mad... I like that idea.:) look out kids. > >The VGA-colour-swapper is another. This is a simple adapter with a DE15 >plug on one side and a DE15 socket on the other. All the pins are >straight through, apart from 1,2,3 which are wired 1->2, 2->3, 3->1. The >result is that it swaps the colours round. It's actually a useful piece >of test gear to discover quickly if a missing colour is due to the >monitor or video card. But it's the sort of thing to plug into a luser's >computer after he's spent the morning getting the colours 'right'... > Like swapping red and blue on VAXstations etc. Dan

27 years, 7 months

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