Hi
Anybody who has not seen this film (The KGB, the Computer, and Me)
its worth a look. 1980's DEC systems everywhere, LSI terminals, HP kit,
Tape drives in action and apart from the Mac no Windows anywhere.
I think LBL must have bought one of everything.
The story (true) is not bad either.
I now expect to get a long list of weveseenits.
Rod
Sorry - I did it again and forgot to remove the junk in the subject line!
>Jerome H. Fine wrote:
> >Jay Jaeger wrote:
>
>>> On 12/29/2015 2:47 PM, Jay Jaeger wrote:
>>
>>> I have had several folks express the desire for them. Over the day or
>>> few days (we have a gathering coming up tomorrow, and not sure I will
>>> get to it today, so it could be as late as next week), I will load them
>>> up on my Google drive in a directory structure analogous to what
>>> bitsavers uses, and send out the link.
>>>
>>> JRJ
>>
>> https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2v4WRwISEQRWWFFdVpCZWFTZEU&usp=sha…
>>
>>
>> The structure is similar to bitsavers, so look in:
>>
>> bits/DEC/pdp11/floppyimages
>>
>> There are two folders, rx01 and rx02 with .img files.
>>
>> The image files INCLUDE TRACK 0, so depending on how you plan to use
>> them, you may need to trim off the first track first.
>
> Any possibility you could provide the full link? I don't see much
> in the way of information at that site to get me to those floppy images.
> There might be other DEC and non-DEC PDP-11 images that are
> of interest.
>
> This site also has many DEC and non-DEC files for the PDP-11
> http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/
>
> I usually find that anything to do with google that is not totally
> obvious
> to usually be a pain.
>
> Just on doing a search, the usual > 1,000,000 items stop being anything
> at all relevant after item 100.
>
> google is often good to check spelling though (LOL) - I can't spell,
> so I always use the Spell checker.
>
> Jerome Fine
>Jay Jaeger wrote:
>>On 12/29/2015 2:47 PM, Jay Jaeger wrote:
>
>
>>I have had several folks express the desire for them. Over the day or
>>few days (we have a gathering coming up tomorrow, and not sure I will
>>get to it today, so it could be as late as next week), I will load them
>>up on my Google drive in a directory structure analogous to what
>>bitsavers uses, and send out the link.
>>
>>JRJ
>>
>https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2v4WRwISEQRWWFFdVpCZWFTZEU&usp=sha…
>
>The structure is similar to bitsavers, so look in:
>
>bits/DEC/pdp11/floppyimages
>
>There are two folders, rx01 and rx02 with .img files.
>
>The image files INCLUDE TRACK 0, so depending on how you plan to use
>them, you may need to trim off the first track first.
>
Any possibility you could provide the full link? I don't see much
in the way of information at that site to get me to those floppy images.
There might be other DEC and non-DEC PDP-11 images that are
of interest.
This site also has many DEC and non-DEC files for the PDP-11
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/
I usually find that anything to do with google that is not totally obvious
to usually be a pain.
Just on doing a search, the usual > 1,000,000 items stop being anything
at all relevant after item 100.
google is often good to check spelling though (LOL) - I can't spell,
so I always use the Spell checker.
Jerome Fine
On Dec 30, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote:
> Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2015 14:47:17 -0600
> From: Jay Jaeger <cube1 at charter.net>
> To: cctech at classiccmp.org
> Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems
> Message-ID: <5682F155.3050205 at charter.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>
>>>
>>> On 12/27/2015 10:15 PM, Mark Matlock wrote:
>>>>
>>>> The software I am looking for are the MINC software packages FEP (Fortran Enhancement Package) V2.1 and FRP (Fortran Real_time Package) V1.0. Also SSP V1.3 (Scientific Subroutines Package) and LSP V1.2 (Laboratory Subroutines Package) would be great to find as well. These all run under RT-11 and I understand that there was also a version (V1.1) of FEP and V1.0 of FRP that ran under RSX11M which would be fantastic to find as I am more interested in RSX11M. This is based on documents in the MINC folder in the bitsavers online archives.
>>>>
>>>> Mark
>>>>
>>>
>>> I have some MINC hardware (also a MINC/23 I think) and software, but it
>>> does not look like I have what you are looking for.
>>>
>>> What I do have images of (except for the one marked "(Bad)" that seem
>>> likely MINC related:
>>>
>>> RX01:
>>>
>>> CONTENTS COMMENT
>>> LAB Applications-11 Library V3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YB, NSUM=41906
>>> LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 1 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA1, NSUM=56190
>>> LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 2 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA2, NSUM=28900
>>> LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 3 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA3, NSUM=65055
>>>
>>> CONTENTS COMMENT
>>> PLOT, Ver June '80 DECUS 11-381 RT-11 Media(KA) (Bad)
>>> MINC BASIC/FORTRAN IV VIR TERM DECUS 11-417 RT-11, NSUM=22281
>>> PLOTTING PKG For RT-11 FORTRAN DECUS 11-431 RT-11, NSUM=12228
>>> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 1 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=15424
>>> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 2 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=1369
>>> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 3 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=2841
>>> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 4 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=21353
>>> FEP2: FINITE ELEMENT PROG 3DIM 1 of 2 KB DECUS 11-461 RT-11, NSUM=14187
>>> FEP2: FINITE ELEMENT PROG 3DIM 2 of 2 KB DECUS 11-461 RT-11, NSUM=26552
>>>
>>>
>>> RX02:
>>>
>>> CONTENTS COMMENT
>>> MINC MA DEMO/23 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-J837B-BC, NSUM=04649
>>> MINC MA DEMO/03 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-H107D-BC, NSUM=58263
>>> MINC MA SYS/23 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-J836B-BC, NSUM=17510
>>> MINC MA SYS/03 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-H106D-BC, NSUM=61253
>>
>>
>
> I have had several folks express the desire for them. Over the day or
> few days (we have a gathering coming up tomorrow, and not sure I will
> get to it today, so it could be as late as next week), I will load them
> up on my Google drive in a directory structure analogous to what
> bitsavers uses, and send out the link.
>
> JRJ
Jay,
Thank you so much for putting the RX01 and RX02 images on your Google drive. This afternoon I was able to download them all and in RT11/Simh copy all the files to a large DU: type drive to both verify that the disk images downloaded correctly and to put everything in one convenient volume to load on a microSD card for the SCSI2SD transfer to a real PDP-11. I didn't notice any file names duplicating as I combined the contents of the floppies and if that the case there were 168 files on the RX01s and 64 files on the RX02s with a combined size of 3976 blocks.
Browsing through the files I saw lots of great example code for a wide range of scientific routines!! Thanks again for taking the time to put the files out there.
Thanks again!!
Mark
I have boxes full of like-new PSION II organizers that I recently received from a US distributed.
These aren't rare or valuable, but they are new in the box and seemingly never used.
There are different models, with both 2 and 4 line displays, and different amounts of memory.
I also have memory modules, cables, and development documentation.
There's also a PSION module duplicactor.
If any of this interests anyone, let me know.
Also: 50 pounds of old PC parallel, serial, video cables, etc.
You can see pictures here:
http://www.oldcomputers.net/temp/
If anyone is interested, I know where there are 3 or 4 unused PDP-8As that
are 120/50. I ask about the configuration and am waiting for him to get
back to me, but they seem to be 12 slot core boxes.
Amazing the new 50 or so year stuff still out there.
Paul
Interesting just brought the old magnavox ghetto blaster I had in the
computer room at computer exchange inc... put 4 cells and a jumper to start
it in half voltage for a while.... it lives! went to all 8 batteries... it
peels plaster off the walls! but wait i go to the oldies station and ..
.
Crowded House- Don't Dream Its Over
Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield
2 of the songs I would crank LOUD! Hey had slick raised tiles... things
sounded real loud in there!
But.... damn these are .... oldies now I remember when that oldies station
would just mainly play 60's stuff....
Here is someone else's write up on this... for tech details..
<http://www.vintagevolts.com/the-magnavox-d8443-boombox/>
this thing had set in relatives storage shed for probably 15 years or
maybe 22 ..... it had need 23 years since I saw it last....and storage sheds
are damn hot here in az.. it looks good... it plays good! it plays LOUD good
to have it back!
In a message dated 12/29/2015 12:23:38 P.M. US Mountain Standard Tim,
js at cimmeri.com writes:
On 12/29/2015 2:08 PM, Jules Richardson
wrote:
> I've wondered occasionally what
> happened to ghetto blasters - despite
> finding other audio equipment of the
> time every once in a while, I don't
> think I've seen one anywhere in over
> 25 years. Were they exceptionally
> fragile or something, and so they all
> got tossed long ago instead of finding
> their way into attics and garages like
> everything else?
>
> cheers
> Jules
I still have mine, circa 1979.
Amazingly still works -- with no caps
replacement yet -- except for tape deck
-- rubber bands have dried up.
- J.
On Dec 29, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote:
> Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2015 17:51:45 -0600
> From: Jay Jaeger <cube1 at charter.net>
> To: cctech at classiccmp.org
> Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems
> Message-ID: <5681CB11.4090101 at charter.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>
> On 12/27/2015 10:15 PM, Mark Matlock wrote:
>>
>> The software I am looking for are the MINC software packages FEP (Fortran Enhancement Package) V2.1 and FRP (Fortran Real_time Package) V1.0. Also SSP V1.3 (Scientific Subroutines Package) and LSP V1.2 (Laboratory Subroutines Package) would be great to find as well. These all run under RT-11 and I understand that there was also a version (V1.1) of FEP and V1.0 of FRP that ran under RSX11M which would be fantastic to find as I am more interested in RSX11M. This is based on documents in the MINC folder in the bitsavers online archives.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>
> I have some MINC hardware (also a MINC/23 I think) and software, but it
> does not look like I have what you are looking for.
>
> What I do have images of (except for the one marked "(Bad)" that seem
> likely MINC related:
>
> RX01:
>
> CONTENTS COMMENT
> LAB Applications-11 Library V3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YB, NSUM=41906
> LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 1 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA1, NSUM=56190
> LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 2 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA2, NSUM=28900
> LAB Applications-11 Lib Source 3 of 3 DEC-11-SLABA-C-YA3, NSUM=65055
>
> CONTENTS COMMENT
> PLOT, Ver June '80 DECUS 11-381 RT-11 Media(KA) (Bad)
> MINC BASIC/FORTRAN IV VIR TERM DECUS 11-417 RT-11, NSUM=22281
> PLOTTING PKG For RT-11 FORTRAN DECUS 11-431 RT-11, NSUM=12228
> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 1 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=15424
> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 2 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=1369
> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 3 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=2841
> LABORATORY APPLICATIONS-11 4 of 4, (KD) DECUS 11-448 RT-11, NSUM=21353
> FEP2: FINITE ELEMENT PROG 3DIM 1 of 2 KB DECUS 11-461 RT-11, NSUM=14187
> FEP2: FINITE ELEMENT PROG 3DIM 2 of 2 KB DECUS 11-461 RT-11, NSUM=26552
>
>
> RX02:
>
> CONTENTS COMMENT
> MINC MA DEMO/23 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-J837B-BC, NSUM=04649
> MINC MA DEMO/03 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-H107D-BC, NSUM=58263
> MINC MA SYS/23 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-J836B-BC, NSUM=17510
> MINC MA SYS/03 V2.0 BIN RX2 BA-H106D-BC, NSUM=61253
Jay,
Wow! It would be great to get copies of those DEC and DECUS floppies! Almost all DECUS software include the sources and a good example of source code is worth many pages of references manuals. Please contact me directly and we can discuss how to transfer them. Several of those titles sound very interesting!
The MINC systems are great hardware platforms, but I was very afraid that much of the software had been lost. This is very encouraging!
Thanks!
Mark
On Dec 29, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote:
> From: jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa)
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
> Cc: jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu
> Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems
> Message-ID: <20151228152030.26E4518C0B2 at mercury.lcs.mit.edu>
>
>> From: Mark Matlock
>
>> either 11/23 or 11/73 CPUs (limited to 256KB by the MINC Q18 bus)
>
> Have you thought about upgrading the backplane/bus to 22 bits (shouldn't be
> too hard) - or do you want to keep it original?
>
> Noel
Noel,
I actually have two MINC boxes, one labelled as a MINC-23 and one labelled as MINC-11. As far as I can tell from the engineering drawings there is no difference in the back plane. I am hoping to wire the MINC-23 to Q22 in the future to be able to run RSX11M+ on it with the 11/73 and a decent amount of memory. As far as I can tell there MINC cards would not have a problem with the Q22 bus and the modification to the BDV11 is pretty easy.
The MINC-11 I plan to keep as a RT-11 system but with the 11/23 CPU and 256 KB RAM.
Mark
On Dec 29, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote:
> Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2015 11:27:17 -0800
> From: "Ian S. King" <isking at uw.edu>
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems
>
> I started such a project a while back, and grad school intervened. :-)
> But with all this interest, I'll see if I can't disinter my MINC and try it
> again. I'm pretty sure I have these packages and a lot more, and I really
> need to get them imaged of RX02s before the oxide starts falling off. :-)
>
> I have a MINC-11, but I put an 11/23 processor in it - 18-bit addressing,
> though, and I DO want to keep it stock so I'm not going to modify the
> backplane for 22-bit addressing, as much as I'd like that extra working
> store space!
Ian,
As we discussed offline, I'll be very interested to see the titles of the RX02s that you have "in the basement".
It would be great to get as many of these DEC and DECUS MINC related software packages together in one collection
so it doesn't get lost forever.
Thanks and Best regards,
Mark
On Dec 28, 2015, at 12:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote:
> Message: 18
> Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2015 20:35:54 -0800
> From: Glen Slick <glen.slick at gmail.com>
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
> Subject: Re: Software for DEC MINC systems
>
> I have an RX02 floppy labeled:
> BA-L796C-BC
> RT-11/FEP V2.2 INSTL BIN RX2
> (C) 1983
>
> I don't know if that would help. I'll have to look and see if I have
> already created an image of this disk. If not it might take some time
> before I get setup again to create RX02 disk images.
>
> -Glen
Glen,
I would very much be interested in a copy of that RX02! That is one subversion higher (V2.2 vs V2.1) than the documentation I found so its probably one of the last releases. Please email me privately if you find the image.
Thanks a bunch!!
Mark
On Sun, Dec 27, 2015 at 12:10 PM, tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
> [...] I am (mainly) a Commodore enthusiast).
>
This discussion bumped my memory a little and I was wanting to do it. Has
anyone tried this or does anyone have knowledge of why it should or
shouldn't work?
-thx
jake
> From: Johnny Billquist bqt at update.uu.se
> The per-device code are in separate PROMs that are used in both the
> 9301 and 9312. Those are the ones with the device code as constants in
> the beginning of memory space for the PROM, by the way.
As I mentioned, the M9301-YA, at least, does not have this code. (See the
listing.) Also, again on the M9301-YA, the various bootstraps, diagnostics,
and console, are scattered through both banks (ditto), so one can't just
replace a PROM or two to chance the supported devices; one would have to
replace the entire set of 4 PROMs.
> I hope you also are aware that both the M9301 and the M9312 have
> different boot roms for some machines. I know that the 11/70 use
> different roms with other tests than other PDP-11s, and I seem to
> remember that one or two others do as well. (The 11/60 keeps popping up
> in my brain...)
I have yet to investigate the M9312's in depth, but I did know there are quite
a few different versions of the M9301 (which amount to different ROMs: I know
there are two different etch revisions of the card itself, but I think they
are programming-wise identical). I don't know of any good list of the
variants, but here are the versions I know of (device codes abbreviated to
save typing):
M9301-YA /04 and /34 OEM version; has basic diagnostics, console emulator,
boots from various devices (RK, RP, TC, TM, DL, PC, TA, RX),
supports auto-boot on power on, and also power-fail restart
M9301-YB /04 and /34 end user version; has basic diagnostics, console emulator,
boots from various devices (RK, RP, TC, TM, TA, RX, DL, PC,
RJS, RJP, TJU), also power-fail restart
M9301-YC /70 version; contains basic CPU, cache and memory diagnostics,
boots from various devices (TM, TC, RK, RP, RK06, RJS, RJP, TJU, RX)
M9301-YD All models; contains code to allow a terminal attached to the
machine to be a terminal on some other line; also has boot
code for RX and DDCMP
M9301-YE All models; has basic diagnostics, console emulator; boots
from low speed paper tape or DECnet; supports auto-boot on
power on, and also power-fail restart
M9301-YF All models (auto-start not available on /45, /50); has basic
diagnostics, console emulator, boots from various devices
(RK, RK06, RP, TC, TM, TA, RX, DL, PC, RJS, RJP, TJU)
supports auto-boot on power on, and also power-fail restart
M9301-YH /60 and /70 version; contains basic CPU, cache and memory diagnostics,
boots from various devices (TM, TC, RK, RP, RK06, RJS, RJP, TJU, RX, PC)
M9301-YH All models; has basic diagnostics, console emulator; boots
from DECnet, and various devices (RX, TU, DL, DMC), also
power-fail restart
The -YA is the only one I have examined in detail.
Noel
A very generous list member just gave me a SPARCStation 20 with SunOS
4.1.4 on it. I thought the first thing I would do would be to image
its hard drive in my Linux PC, in case I ever wanted to start fresh.
I assume that if I make a bitwise copy of it, I can later write those
same bits out. But now I'm wondering what would happen if the disk
developed marked bad sectors; would that make an exact image
impossible to write onto it?
I have a disc image of that release, but unfortunately no SCSI CD-ROM.
It occurs to me that I could perhaps make a SunOS filesystem on Linux
and untar things from either the install CD or the image of the
original HD into it, but I don't know if that would produce something
actually bootable. I'm hoping there would be some way within Linux to
capture the actual format of the filesystem to use as a skeleton.
Does anyone know if this is possible (viz. creating a valid, bootable
filesystem and untarring files into it)? Or should I just invest in a
CD-ROM drive?
--
Eric Christopherson
On December 29 08:35 Brent Hilpert wrote:
> In 1985 I was setting up our new email system at CERN, and the email
> system had a security flaw that allowed the users' mail access
> passwords to be seen.
> This in of itself wasn't too big deal as there was little a hacker
> could do with it (only get access to mail pickup, and you'd need a
> system that talked X.400, which weren't prevalent).
> What made it a big security problem, of course, was that users tended
> to use their login password for their mail password, so once the
> hackers uncovered the mail password they ipso-facto often got a login
> password.
> The hacking was noticed and I was told they were networking in from
> Germany.
>
> Given the commonalities: time proximity (85-86), hacker source
> (Germany) and hacking targets (HEP/nuclear/research community), I
> wonder now if it was the same group of hackers.
Check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR9HVZ8qHHo
Fast forward to 5:26 for a '87 sitelist mentioning CERN.
They sold some units of the c64x. I think there are still some on our local austin craigslist but like most folks said hardware isn't really interesting enough to me to justify the cost. ?
I cant remember where or who also produced a small (eepc? Or mini asus laptop running linux but badges with the commodore logo.?
The latest relicense grab I'm aware of is only available in Europe but is a phone calling itself the commodore pet?http://commodoresmart.com/ i imagine they're probably trying to work out the legal purchase from commodore usa to use the logo if they care for a US release.?
The first cut at a microcode disassembler for the CP16xx/WD21xx
chipsets, written in Python 3, is now on github:
https://github.com/brouhaha/cp16dis
The disassembler uses hexadecimal, in C notation, rather than octal as
used by DEC. Branch targets are labeled as L with the three-digit hex
address. The disassembler doesn't know about branch targets only
reached from the control chip translation PLA.
The disassembler probably needs a lot of work to be truly usable. It
does not even attempt to produce code that could be assembled by DEC's
"MICRO" microassembler that is in the KUV11 writable control store
support software, or any other assembler or microassembler. (I don't
have the KUV11 support software, but would *really* like to obtain a
copy!)
The register names decoded are specific to the LSI-11 microcode. I
don't yet know what the Pascal Microengine registers are used for, so
I don't have suitable names for them.
Here's an excerpt from the LSI-11 microcode at address 0x018 where you
can see one of the techniques for a computed jump, with entry occuring
at 0x20:
L018: jmp L101 ;018: 000101
jmp L161 ;019: 000161
jmp L192 ;01a: 000192
jmp L0f5 ;01b: 0000f5
jmp L0a5 ;01c: 0000a5
jmp L19e ;01d: 00019e
jmp L192 ;01e: 000192
jmp L192 ;01f: 000192
mi RIRL,RIRH ;020: 00ec89
jmp L018 ;021: 000018
This is used by an implicit jump caused by the translation array in
the control chip to location 0x20. The mi instruction causes the
instruction register (RIRH) to be OR'd into both bytes of the next
microinstruction, which is a jump to L018. Presumably before jumping
to the mi, all of the bits of the instruction register have been
masked off, except for the least significant three. It's also possible
that it's been shifted before masking. Also possible, not all of the
bits might be masked off, and there might be more of the jump table
elsewhere, depending on those bits. Note that if the most significant
five bits are not masked off, this could even change the jump
instruction at 0x21 to a different kind of instruction.
Eric
I have a MINC-23 that I am in the process of restoring. On the hardware side, I modified the BDV11 ROMs with some help from Malcolm Macleod on the boot eprom images so that I could boot a DU device directly from a 11/23 (not plus).
It boots an Emulex UC07 and a SCSI2SD so I can load various images on to the microSD card. I found a microSD to normal SD adapter which I plan to mount through one of the MINC blank front panels (with a blinking drive activity LED of course), so that changing disks is convenient. Currently, the SCSI2SD is formatted as four RD54 drives which are a convenient size to load individual images with the dd command on Linux or Mac OSX. Currently, I can boot both RT-11 or RSX11M with either 11/23 or 11/73 CPUs (limited to 256KB by the MINC Q18 bus).
The software I am looking for are the MINC software packages FEP (Fortran Enhancement Package) V2.1 and FRP (Fortran Real_time Package) V1.0. Also SSP V1.3 (Scientific Subroutines Package) and LSP V1.2 (Laboratory Subroutines Package) would be great to find as well. These all run under RT-11 and I understand that there was also a version (V1.1) of FEP and V1.0 of FRP that ran under RSX11M which would be fantastic to find as I am more interested in RSX11M. This is based on documents in the MINC folder in the bitsavers online archives.
Please contact me if you have any of these packages or would just like to compare notes on the MINC hardware. I am still gathering diagnostics and documentation to check out the analog to digital, programable clock, digital to analog, and digital I/O cards. Someone mentioned earlier the "Minicomputer in the Laboratory" book by James Cooper and I have found it to be very helpful as well.
Thanks and Happy New Year!
Mark
I have resolved that to get my H7874 PSU working better I am going to have
to bite the bullet and replace some electrolytic capacitors which cannot be
desoldered from below, at least not without some significant surgery on the
board (there are components soldered to the underside of the board and
attached to a large heatsink, all those components would have to be
desoldered so that the heatsink can be removed to get access to the
underside of the board).
I have had the suggestion to pull the old ones out from above, and then
solder in the new ones from above. These are relatively small radial types
(330uF, 25V).
I am sure the pins will just pull out of the bodies of the capacitors,
leaving me to desolder the pins from above, which should be OK. But, I am
worried about doing damage to the board by just pulling them "cold". Are
they really just going to pull out of the capacitor body, or does anyone
have any tips for doing this in the least damaging way possible?
Thanks
Rob
looks good Todd!
wall art is good to have!
Ed#
In a message dated 12/28/2015 10:54:47 A.M. US Mountain Standard Tim,
tsg at bonedaddy.net writes:
For what it's worth, I bought myself a Christmas present of:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151918395795
Which is a print of a PDP-1 system (well, part of one anyway) on canvas.
It's not inexpensive but the ePay auction has a %-off "sale" going on
and the web site has coupons available to reduce the list price.
If you don't want to deal with ePay then you can check out their web
site at http://www.greatbigcanvas.com.
No connection and I can certainly understand that people might want to
spend the not inconsiderable amount on real hardware but I was pleased
with the result when it arrived today.
Todd
is this Evan?
if
In a message dated 12/28/2015 11:33:10 A.M. US Mountain Standard Tim,
cctalk at snarc.net writes:
> or who ever was supposed to get it done!
> Ed#
I don't know what "plaque dedication" you're talking about.
Email me privately / off-list.
Hi Mike,
A few corrections:
1) Some disk OEM's produced 3340 compatable diskdrives in the 70's.
The OEM manufacturer connected their equipment direct to the internal S/3
channel.
I have only seen 1 CPU at a scrapper which had this.
2) The BUS/TAG connector/cables are the same as used by IBM for 360/370
channel, but are used between the IOP and the 3340 disk string.
They do not carry 360 channel signals but special IOP --> disk signals.
3) CPU --- int chan ---> IOP ---> IDE/SCSI drive. (IOP has modified HW & FW)
See:
http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/370/fe/3125/SY3
3-1063-1_3125_Processing_Unit_Input_Output_Processor_Nov73.pdf
Regards Henk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~
On Sun, Dec 27, 2015 at 10:29 PM, Henk Stegeman <h.j.stegeman at hccnet.nl>
wrote:
> Hi Mike,
>
> Here are the options to attach 3340 DASD emulation to an IBM System/3
>
> 1) direct connect to the internal channel of the S/3. Some disk OEM's did
> this.
> Requires a FPGA with at one side MST-1 interface logic and at the other
side
> IDE or SCSI interface.
> The availabe IBM documentation is complete enough to finish this project.
> You need good IBM HW & VHDL knowledge.
Oh interesting - I had no idea! Do you have names and product numbers
for those OEMs? Any more info? Ever seen one?
If they were sold commercially by OEMs then the project already IS
finished so to speak; it's just a question of *finding* one! Or
finding the documentation and using that as a basis for re-creating
the OEM solution.
It doesn't require any hard-to-perform or reverse changes to the S/3?
No backplane rework or wire wrap? It was just a case of plugging OEM
cards into appropriate slots?
> 2) direct connect to the BUS/TAG interface connector.
> This needs a 8+P bit stream. You have to do some reverse engineering to
> figure out what the exact format is.
> I have no idea if the HW must be implemented in a FPGA (for timing
reasons)
> or if an AVR processor will do the job.
> Advantage is that you don't have to modify anything inside the S/3.
And the other advantage is that it could be part of a more
generalizable device that could be used to replace other Bus/Tag
peripherals on other IBM systems... if some of us were to start a
home-brew project that might be the best approach to take.
> 3) IBM has implemented an IOP (I/O Processor) between the S/3 CPU and the
> 3340 drives.
> This IOP is a modified version of the ones used in the IBM 370/115 & 125.
It
> is a powerfull multi thread capable beast.
> With small HW modification you can connect an IDE or SCSI drives to it.
> The difficult part is modifying the firmware of the IOP. This requires a
> special assembler (to be written) and very good assembler skill's.
If IBM have already implemented it then ready to use IOPs exist or at
one time existed out there in the wild... your reference to modifying
IOP firmware... do you mean to connect to the S/3 - or to attach IDE
or SCSI? Or both? Does this IOP have an IBM model number? Was it a
separate box or a set of cards and backplane that could be installed
in the 370? I hope to be getting a 370/125 next year...
Fascinating info Henk; I had no idea any of this stuff existed. I
thought the only options for S/3 5415 were real hardware 3340s or
nothing.
Mike
I have the following backplanes, most have all the boards with them.
DB11-A bus repeater
DH11-A 16 chan com
DP11-PA
DR11-B general purpose interface
DV11-
RK611- I have one put aside for another list member
RM11-A massbus
TM03 tape formatter
Several DD11-D backplanes- 9 slot spc
Please contact me off list if you have any questions or interest. There may
be a few more later. Shipping from 61853
Thanks, Paul
or who ever was supposed to get it done!
Ed#
In a message dated 12/28/2015 10:32:51 A.M. US Mountain Standard Tim,
cctalk at snarc.net writes:
> Did they ever get the plaque dedication video finished Evan?
> Ed#
They?
For what it's worth, I bought myself a Christmas present of:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151918395795
Which is a print of a PDP-1 system (well, part of one anyway) on canvas.
It's not inexpensive but the ePay auction has a %-off "sale" going on
and the web site has coupons available to reduce the list price.
If you don't want to deal with ePay then you can check out their web
site at http://www.greatbigcanvas.com.
No connection and I can certainly understand that people might want to
spend the not inconsiderable amount on real hardware but I was pleased
with the result when it arrived today.
Todd
Did they ever get the plaque dedication video finished Evan?
Ed#
In a message dated 12/27/2015 10:45:51 P.M. US Mountain Standard Tim,
cctalk at snarc.net writes:
Good news! A bunch of old VCF East/West videos are going onto YouTube,
thanks to ANTIC / Atari Podcast's Kevin Savetz stepping forward to do
the grunt work.
The first batch are talks from VCF East 6.0 (2009). YouTube playlist is
at https://t.co/yYRr7rP7R4.
We also asked Jason Scott to bring the videos into Archive.org as they
go online.
> From: Mark Matlock
> either 11/23 or 11/73 CPUs (limited to 256KB by the MINC Q18 bus)
Have you thought about upgrading the backplane/bus to 22 bits (shouldn't be
too hard) - or do you want to keep it original?
Noel
You need OSR2, and even then it's hard to get Win95 OSR2 to work reliably
with TCP/IP. You'll first need to add the TCP/IP client for Microsoft
Networks protocol, as it's not even installed by default (darn Microsoft!).
By default it has only NetBUI and Netware, which must have paid them
money... I could browse the web, but not get file sharing working. In the
end I switched to Win98 SE and it was a lot smoother on the networking side.
Marc
>From: "Robert Jarratt" <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com>
>The drivers from the HP Enterprise site worked, although for
>Windows 95 I have been unable to get TCP/IP working. DHCP is not working
and
>ping moans about a wrong protocol. It looks like I am missing VUDP.386 and
I
>could not find it on the Windows 95 CD. I am pretty sure I have another CD
>with OSR2 somewhere, but I can't find it at the moment. Will have another
>look at some point, but I think the driver itself is just fine now.
>Regards
>Rob
Good news! A bunch of old VCF East/West videos are going onto YouTube,
thanks to ANTIC / Atari Podcast's Kevin Savetz stepping forward to do
the grunt work.
The first batch are talks from VCF East 6.0 (2009). YouTube playlist is
at https://t.co/yYRr7rP7R4.
We also asked Jason Scott to bring the videos into Archive.org as they
go online.
>From: "Robert Jarratt" <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com>
>Does anyone happen to have drivers for this card? I am not sure what OSs
>this card was supported on, so any drivers at all would be appreciated.
I have a few versions of the drivers. They are part of Windows 98SE and
Windows XP distribution though, I had the card recognized on its own on by
both of these (and I suspect NT too though I didn't try). Needs more help on
Windows 95. If you can't get it to work from the links send me an email.
Which reminds me I should ask for some drivers too...
Marc
Hi Mike,
Here are the options to attach 3340 DASD emulation to an IBM System/3
1) direct connect to the internal channel of the S/3. Some disk OEM's did
this.
Requires a FPGA with at one side MST-1 interface logic and at the other side
IDE or SCSI interface.
The availabe IBM documentation is complete enough to finish this project.
You need good IBM HW & VHDL knowledge.
2) direct connect to the BUS/TAG interface connector.
This needs a 8+P bit stream. You have to do some reverse engineering to
figure out what the exact format is.
I have no idea if the HW must be implemented in a FPGA (for timing reasons)
or if an AVR processor will do the job.
Advantage is that you don't have to modify anything inside the S/3.
3) IBM has implemented an IOP (I/O Processor) between the S/3 CPU and the
3340 drives.
This IOP is a modified version of the ones used in the IBM 370/115 & 125. It
is a powerfull multi thread capable beast.
With small HW modification you can connect an IDE or SCSI drives to it.
The difficult part is modifying the firmware of the IOP. This requires a
special assembler (to be written) and very good assembler skill's.
All options requires quite alot of time to implement.
My 2 cents
Henk
I've recently been poking about with various bits of emulation with
hardware interfaces... Dave's MFM emulator; various SCSI-to-USB or
SCSI-to-SDcard devices; my Setasi RP12 Massbus disk emulator; the
Sigma Seven Lisa widget/ProFile emulator etc.
What about IBM channel-attached DASD?
There are various CPUs lying around in private collections and museums
- System/360s; System/370s; System/3 Model 15s; all used
channel-attached DASD: and working reliable disks are much rarer than
the damn CPUs!
Questions:
1. There are or were various 3rd party companies producing rather
obscure emulated DASD replacement subsystems - Virtualblue and Bustech
are two names that come to mind. Has anyone looked into the
possibility of using them to emulate older devices that would be
usable on the above vintage CPUs?
2. To those with hardware design experience: how big a task do you
reckon it would be to do this as a home-brew with modern hardware -
exactly as Dave did with his MFM emulator? Is it feasible? Do the
entire thing in software - Pi or Arduino or FPGA - with appropriate
driver electronics to drive a channel interface?
I've BCC'd some experts with experience - Rich Alderson; William
Donzelli; Henk Stegeman - in the hope that they'll be able to
contribute.
What do people reckon would be the best target for emulation? 3340
springs to mind initially... would that work on machines as old as
System/360s? It's about the *only* option for 5415 DASD...
(To digress briefly - a modern reimplementation of something like the
Setasi Massbus disk emulator would also be very useful; Rich - weren't
LCM working on something like that?)
Mike
http://www.corestore.org
'No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother.
Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame.
For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see.'
To all readers/followers of this website - for those who love
classic/vintage computers - I want to wish all the best of the holiday
season no matter what your beliefs. In this day of political
correctness it is simply to acknowledge Mother Nature's transition
>from fall to winter and we should take time from our busy schedules to
reflect on this 'special' time of the year.
Happy computing!
Murray :)
My VAX4000-500 will no longer power up, with the PSU starting up and then
immediately shutting down. I suspect a possible short somewhere. I have
measured the resistance of the load presented to the PSU by connecting
probes to the backplane sockets used to power the machine. The odd one is
the 5V load. With all the boards in and drives inserted I measure a
resistance of about 4R. As I pulled out boards, drives and fans, it
gradually crept up to 6R. So with nothing connected to the backplane I get a
6R load across the 5V supply.
To my inexperienced mind, that seems a bit low. Should I expect such a
value, or should I be dismantling the box to investigate possible shorts or
failed components on the backplane?
Additionally, the 12V side seems to be charging a capacitor as the
resistance slowly climbs to about 130K. Is that reasonable? Again, nothing
but the backplane.
The 3.3 and -12V show very high resistance at all times.
Thanks
Rob
In the series "looking for drivers". I have taken to using DolchPac 65's as
my retro workhorses so I can multi-boot DOS, Win98 , WinNT, WinXP and Linux
while sticking weird old PCI and ISA interface cards in it. One of the OS
always ends up having some software for the card. It has a custom video card
that identifies itself as a "Trident Video Accelerator 3D Cyber9520". I
found the driver for Win98 which works very well, the machine came
pre-installed running NT, and Linux installs a driver that is a bit glitchy
but usable (I can't believe I could run modern Linux on this!). The video is
auto-recognized and the right driver installs under XP, but the default
version is ultra-buggy, video gets corrupted. Does anyone have an updated
driver for this chip? Internet didn't come up with anything apart from the
ones necessitating scary hardware scanners that crashed my old machine
anyhow.
Marc
Just wanted to say a very sincere Thank You to all the talented folks that
hang out here and call this place home, and also to wish you and yours a
Merry Christmas.
Best,
Jay West
jwest at classiccmp.org
>> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
>> Van: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] Namens Terry
Stewart
>> Verzonden: dinsdag 22 december 2015 21:50
>> Aan: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
>> Onderwerp: Piggybacking 74LS logic chips to confirm a suspected fault
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I've written up my recent third Apple II repair, this time an Apple IIe.
>>
http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2015-12-22-appleiIIe-no-video.htm
>>
>> One interesting aspect of this repair is that piggy-backing a logic
chip helped
>> confirm a faulty one. I'd only ever used this technique with RAM.
>> I'm sure it only works if the chip has a particular type of fault,
but it worked this
>> time for me.
>>
>> Terry (Tez)
>
> I use a HP 10529A logic comparator on regular basis for fault finding
in ttl circuits.
> It compares a reference chip with the CUT (Chip under test;) it's a
very nice diagnostic tool.
> It's a bit like piggy backing just a little more sophisticated :0
>
> -Rik
In my experience, the type of socket you used is quite unreliable and
will tend to develop bad contacts. There is a reason they are cheap... I
would use a turned pin type socket instead, e g an Augat socket. They
will not let you down. More expensive, but considering the work involved
in replacing a socket and the risk of messing up the PCB, the cost is
negligible.
Jonas
BAMA is probably the best known site for old test equipment and amateur radio manuals, followed by Ebaman.
Dale H. Cook, GR / HP Collector, Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA
http://plymouthcolony.net/starcity/radios/index.html
> From: Guy Sotomayor
> It's typical of most of the vintage gear. Folks save the CPUs and ditch
> the peripherals.
It's not entirely sloth and stupidity, though. Disk drives in particular
(usually the biggest issue in this area) are complex precision machinery that
operate at very high speeds, etc, and working on them is a formidable job,
and requires specialized parts which are, in general, no longer available.
> I think the biggest problem is that there isn't a spec per-se on
> Massbus. A lot of reverse engineering will be required to make it work
> properly in all cases.
If it were done, though, that would be wonderful, especially for people with
PDP-11/70's; the UNIBUS on those machines is reputedly the slowest of any
PDP-11, so having mass storage on the MASSBUS is really necessary for good
performance. (Apologies for my -11 centrism in an IBM-focused thread... :-)
But finding the connectors (and probably the cables too) is going to be a
cast-iron nightmare. Maybe we could settle on an alternative (the way I think
we should switch to pairs of dual cards with Berg/DuPont headers, with
standard flat cables between them, to replace the now-unobtainable BC11-A's -
DEC showed this works, with the M9014/M9042..)
Noel
Is there anything like Appleworks 1.0 for the commodore 64? if so could
you be kind enough to give me the name of the program? I have searched
but have found nothing of any value. I just would like a checkbool
ledger and a savings spreadsheet.
Not too long ago I picked up a DEC Venturis FX 5120. It contains a 3COM
3C905-TX network card. There are some sites around the web that purport to
have drivers for this card, but I am very wary of downloading anything from
these sites.
Does anyone happen to have drivers for this card? I am not sure what OSs
this card was supported on, so any drivers at all would be appreciated.
Thanks
Rob
Hi all,
I just signed up today and haven't been admitted to the group, so I couldn't
reply to the appropriate message. But, in browsing through recent messages I
saw the one with a link to loads of manuals. My first thought was that if that
was interesting, this one would be too. Manuals for tons of old test equipment.
http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/
Will
Lots more work on the PDP-12 at the RICM. We got an RS-232 console board
and baud rate generator from Vincent and now have both serial ports
working. Warren modified Kyle's SerialDisk and we booted OS/8 from an
emulated RK05 on the second serial port. We fixed one of the bus interface
boards in the DW8E Omnibus expansion chassis, and connected the RX8E/RX02.
We were able to boot OS/8 from an RX01 diskette. We replaced an M160
flip-chip and now the EAE instructions work. We replaced an M103 flip-chip
and the KW12 clock works. This system is new enough that ECO EM12-0055 for
the KW12 was installed when it was built. This means that the KW12 Maindecs
earlier than D8CD will not work. We cleaned up the PC04 paper tape
reader/punch and connected it to the PC8E. The punch works OK, but the
reader does not always step correctly and does not read the tape correctly.
Fixing this will be the next project.
Once we get the PC04 working the next project will be the RK8E/RK05.
Out of frustration we set aside fixing the TC12 LINCtape controller. We see
spikes on data track #3 that corrupt the data. We swapped the TU56 for a
known good TU55, swapped the data/control cable, and swapped every
flip-chip that is related to data track #3. Nothing has eliminated the
spikes. The only part that we have not swapped is the backplane wiring
between the data cable and the G882 flip-chips. Warren has a plan to
temporarily replace that.
We found that the maintenance prints that came with the system do not
include ECO EM12-0055.
Does anyone have a set of KW12 prints that include ECO EM12-0055?
--
Michael Thompson
Hi,
I've written up my recent third Apple II repair, this time an Apple IIe.
http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2015-12-22-appleiIIe-no-video.htm
One interesting aspect of this repair is that piggy-backing a logic chip
helped confirm a faulty one. I'd only ever used this technique with RAM.
I'm sure it only works if the chip has a particular type of fault, but it
worked this time for me.
Terry (Tez)
Folks,
I own an EAI TR-10 analog computer which sadly came without any patch cables
and accessories. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, BUT the TR-10 comes
with special resistive plugs which go at the ends of the patch leads. These
have a 4mm plug and socket with a 10k or 100k resistor in between. I can't
figure out a way to easily fabricate replacements. I can easily obtain 4mm
plugs and sockets, and solder a resistor between them, but when I try and
mount them on a short rigid tube all my efforts fail. The plug and socket
need to be twisted in opposite directions and any soldered joint just fails.
Any usggestions?
Does any one have some of these and if so how are they constructed?
Dave Wade
G4UGM
Yes and a Marry Christmas to you and yours Jay!
Ed#
In a message dated 12/24/2015 7:15:45 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
jwest at classiccmp.org writes:
Just wanted to say a very sincere Thank You to all the talented folks that
hang out here and call this place home, and also to wish you and yours a
Merry Christmas.
Best,
Jay West
jwest at classiccmp.org
I wrote about my HP 16702A not working on Ethernet any more.
On Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 8:08 AM, Glen Slick <glen.slick at gmail.com> wrote:
> Assuming you are using 10BT for the network connection, do
> you have the terminator cap installed on the 10B2 BNC jack? I think
> some things don't work right with the 16700A/16702A network without
> that terminator cap installed.
I tried it. Didn't work. I also tried connecting the 10base2 to a 10
Mbps hub, and another port to my "real" network, and that still didn't
work.
As HP-UX boots, it says:
<timestamp> auto_parms >> Network was disabled by boot scripts on
previous oot. Re-activating the network.
8/16/6 <macaddr> 0 UP lan0 DOWN 4 ETHER Yes 52
<timestamp> auto_parms >> /sbin/auto_parms, checking network for DHCP
server (see /etc/auto_parms.log)
Then in the progress list, it shows:
Configure LAN interfaces .................... [FAIL] *
Check LAN Status .............................. [N/A ]
[...]
Configure HP Ethernet interfaces ......... [ OK ]
Configure HP 100BT interfaces ............ [N/A ]
Configure LAN interfaces ..................... [ OK ]
Then once the logic analyzer application is up, it shows an error log
window, which says
There was a DHCP error . Network was disabled.
But if I go to network settings, it says:
Network hardware not usable - Is the network connected?
And all of the radio buttons (e.g., to select "standard" configuration
instead of DHCP) are greyed out and I can't configure it.
I think the Ethernet ports on this beast are dead. :-(
I'm not sure whether it's the CPU board or the I/O board that is dead,
but Keysight, or whoever they are this week, wants more money for
either of those boards than eBay pricing for a used 16700A or 16702A.
>
> Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2015 20:56:51 -0600
> From: Jay Jaeger <cube1 at charter.net>
> Subject: Re: PDP-12 Restoration at the RICM
> Message-ID: <567A0D73.2010304 at charter.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>
> I have an image of MAINDEC-12-D8CD-PB, and a listing as well
> (MDEC-12-D8CD-L in my inventory). Let me know if you need them as well
> as the drawings (see below). It is in an archive folder with a bunch of
> other interesting PDP-12/PDP-8 stuff.
>
I wrote a program to export a BIN formatted file from a LINCtape image so
we were able to make a BIN image of MAINDEC-12-D8CD. This runs OK, where
the D8CC does not.
Can you give me a pointer to the SerialDisk info? Sounds interesting.
>
Kyle's SerialDisk is here: https://github.com/drovak/os8diskserver
> Hopefully you can actually fix the original M160 and M103 cards.
>
We have been able to fix all types of broken flip-chips. Sourcing the
components is sometimes a challenge. The Germanium transistors for the TU20
on the PDP-9 were hard to find.
> >
> > We found that the maintenance prints that came with the system do not
> > include ECO EM12-0055.
> > Does anyone have a set of KW12 prints that include ECO EM12-0055?
>
The prints that came with this PDP-12 are here:
http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp12/maintenance/DEC-12-HR2B-D_…
Now that I looked in the ECO block I can see that they actually do
incorporate ECOs 55 and 57.
The machine wiring does not match the CLC page, so maybe there are more
recent ECOs in the machine and not in the prints.
We visited the RCS/RI crew last weekend and used their PDP-12 to format
some LINCtapes. At least we have some freshly formatted, known good,
LINCtapes for the TC12 debugging.
Jay, we are interested in anything PDP-12 related that we don't have.
The PDP-12 is described here:
http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/dec-pdp-12
Details on the PDP-12 restoration process are here:
http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/dec-pdp-12/dec-pdp-12-restor…
--
Michael Thompson