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

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

Performed maintenance of my VAX 4000-200. Removed NiCad battery Replaced hard drive Made new image of system drive The how-to is all over the web, but I summarized a lot of the basic support tasks associated with a networked VAX 4000 here for anyone interested in a simple "for dummies" page http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=608 The system is hosted here: vax4000.vintagecomputer.net -- Bill

10 years, 7 months

6
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DEC 4260 transistors (MOS clock driver on LSI-11 CPU)

by spacewar＠gmail.com

Does anyone happen to know what the industry-standard equivalent for a DEC 4260 PNP transistors in the MOS clock driver circuitry on LSI-11 CPU is? Is it a 2N4260? Thanks! Eric

10 years, 7 months

1
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VAX 4000-200 Maintenance

by mhs.stein＠gmail.com

----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Jarratt" <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2015 4:27 PM ... My to-do list has me doing the rounds of all my machines to check them all for the batteries. I'd like to replace rather than remove though, but that could get expensive at about ?10-12 pounds per machine for the cordless phone battery packs sold by Maplin. Maybe there is a better alternative, I should go and take a look. Regards Rob ----- Reply ----- Wow! I buy mine for $2 to $4 at the local 'Dollar' store... Or you could order from the usual place; e.g.: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Battery/1191734_259040387.html m

10 years, 7 months

2
1
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Todays Topic from Panelman

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys I think we are all only too well aware of the difficulty of getting parts for our old systems. This the more so for items that can been seen. Having got at least a half reasonable replacement front panel process my thoughts turned to toggle switches. In the case of PDP-11 this is already being addressed by another list member. So to PDP-8's. There's two parts to a PDP-8 toggle. The slide switch and the lever. The leaver is injection molded in a two part mold. The join line can clearly be seen. Clearly a mold is required to produce one or more at a time. These used to be very expensive but with modern CNC machines it might be worth finding out. In addition we now have 3D printing available To aid this have I have produced a drawing of the switch lever with views from three angles. From here it should be possible to: 1. Convert to 3D for 3D printing tests 2. Produce a drawing of the two part mold tool. Extruded PVC I'm familiar with having worked in the cable industry as a student. ABS which is what I think the leaver may be made of may be different (hot to cold shrinkage for example) Comments from list members with experience in the above areas would be of interest to us all. Now to the slide switches themselves. They are mounted by the screw hole lugs having been slid into a groove in two aluminum bars which in turn are attached to the PCB by pillars and screws. There are six connection pins on the bottom of each switch that go into holes in the PCB. (not all used) Switch replacement would be easy and a complete switch and lever sub module not too difficult. I hear a voice >from the distant past saying 'Micro switches' Thats all for to-day Rod

10 years, 7 months

2
3
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Front Panels

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys Well the panel is here and I'm analyzing it to see what it tells us. So far it looks like I need to add a band of gray matte base to the front and a band of similar over the light ports on on the back. Looks like I have a new product. It's called an "Invisipanel" Its a clear plexiglas blank I use for checking alignments. Because its so clear I cant find it!!!! Rod

10 years, 7 months

1
0
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Testing bus transceivers

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Guy Sotomayor > A number of data books have circuits that were used to measure the > parameters .. so you might want to look at some of them Thanks for the tip! Alas, I don't know of any data books with circuits like that - any pointers? (And it's only the leakage current I need to check; the other 3 key DC parameters I have already managed to check.) > From: Mark J. Blair > Do you have any sort of precision, regulated, adjustable lab bench > power supply that you could use to vary input voltage? Well, I have some Lambdas, but I'm not sure they are 'precision' (any more - the pots are kind of dirty/flaky, so they jump when you turn them). > If not, using a potentiometer as you mentioned would also work. Yeah, that's what I did - running a 500 ohm pot from ground to +5V provided a nice input, and I was able to verify the 'maximum 0 input voltage' and the 'mininum 1 input voltage' quite easily. I also realized that in a system with 'normal' single QBUS box with termination, one has a 330 ohm pull-up in the CPU's termination, and 180 ohm pull-up in the BDV11 terminator, which adds up to 42 mA into the transceiver when pulling to low voltage; if one adds another 180 ohm pull-up, that adds another 28 mA, getting me to the required 70 mA for the 'maximum 0 output voltage' check. Since the QBUS specs allow another termination, if you have a second box, that's probably why they spec it at 70 mA, actually. > Also, how many of these did you buy? Umm, like 400? :-) (Dave Bridgham and I are winding up to produce a QBUS card which uses SD memory cards along with an FPGA and micro-controller to emulate a range of DEC disk systems - RK11, RP11, etc - and we wanted to assure a goodly supply of our selected transceiver chip before we spin out a PC board.) > If it's something like a dozen, manual testing will be practical. If > it's something like a hundred, then automating the testing might be a > good idea, and a fun project all by itself if that sort of thing > interests you. Well, not really, to be honest (I'm not an analog person), plus to which I have a zillion other projects (e.g. a bunch of UNIBUS machines to refurbish, plus other non-computer things) which are backlogged, the last thing I need is another one! ;-) Also, you might be able to automate the _testing_, but one still has to plug the chips in and out, which is a certain amount of work, so it's not like automated testing would allow me to trivially check really large numbers of chips. Which is why I've adopted the 'test randomly selected units for meeting specs' approach (remember, I'm just trying to make sure these aren't counterfeits), and for that, manual testing works fine. Noel

10 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

PDP 8a transformer capacitor replacement?

by thebri＠gmail.com

Having read all sorts of bad things about these older oil filled capacitors, I decided to replace the one on my 8a. I got what I think is a replacement - 6 microF, 660VAC, 50/60Hz, "NO PCB's" - but it is physically about 1/3 the size as the original. Did the tech for these get that much better? What purpose does this serve? It's hanging off the transformer. I see lots of links about motor start capacitors, but nothing relating to transformers. http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cornell-Dubilier/SFA66S6K288B-F Thanks, b

10 years, 7 months

3
2
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Wanted: 9-track tapes.

by tomjmoss＠googlemail.com

Does anyone have any 9-track tapes for sale, preferably in the UK/EU? I'm getting tired of ordering NOS tape from the US just to find they've got sticky-shed... I'd also like one of those early IBM style reels, the red/blue ones with the three "viewing holes". Doesn't have to work. -Tom

10 years, 7 months

2
1
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Could someone make the list do the thing in the subject line?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

OR UC ONLY BEEHIVE TERMINAL! NOTHING LIKE 'RIDIN THE 'HIVE AT MIDNITE! In a message dated 11/18/2015 4:24:14 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk writes: > > COMBINE THEM THEN JUST ADD TWO LETTERS AND A DASH AS THUS > > CC- > > SOMEONE SUGGESTING THIS AND USING CAPITALS ONLY PROVES TO BE A MAIL NOOB > ;-) Or is using a Model 33 ASR (or KSR) :-) -tony =

10 years, 7 months

1
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Could someone make the list do the thing in the subject line?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

good point Ethan that is one of the main reasons as if it has a list designator I would defiantly look at it then.Ed# Tue, 17 Nov 2015, ethan at 757.org wrote: > By any chance could someone configure the mailing list to add or [cc] or > [cct] into the beginning of the subject line? Not looking to filter, just not > looking to delete messages.

10 years, 7 months

2
1
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Could someone make the list do the [cctalk] thing in the subject line?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

DO NOT THINK I CAN MAKE THE AOL MAIL FILTER THAT WAY.. In a message dated 11/17/2015 6:06:50 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, woyciesjes at sbcglobal.net writes: On 11/17/2015 10:54 AM, ethan at 757.org wrote: > Hello, > > By any chance could someone configure the mailing list to add > [cctalk] or [cc] or [cct] into the beginning of the subject line? Not > looking to filter, just not looking to delete messages. > > This has been discussed _too_ many times... Please don't bring it up again.... Just setup a filter to shuffle CC stuff to it's own folder, then nuke it from there... -- --- Dave Woyciesjes --- ICQ# 905818 --- CompTIA A+ Certified IT Tech -http://certification.comptia.org/ --- HDI Certified Support Center Analyst -http://www.ThinkHDI.com/ Registered Linux user number 464583 "Computers have lots of memory but no imagination." "The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back." - from some guy on the internet.

10 years, 7 months

5
4
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Could someone make the list do the [cctalk] thing in the subject line?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

COMBINE THEM THEN JUST ADD TWO LETTERS AND A DASH AS THUS CC- In a message dated 11/17/2015 1:41:03 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, jwest at classiccmp.org writes: Ah, one of the top ten topics that keeps resurfacing periodically. I initially suggested adding the list name to the subject, and the strong sentiment from the group was not to add it. The pros and cons seem to be a bit of a religious war. And from time to time someone (re)suggests this and the war rages again for a while ;) Yes, the two lists will be rejoined as one list. I haven't found a roundtuit yet. J

10 years, 7 months

10
9
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Front Panel

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

The front panel I needed to check the layout has arrived or at least got as far as the postal depot at Reading. There is some customs duty on it. So I'll be there at 07:00 when they open in the morning. I'll check the measurements and take the artwork over to the screen printers when I get back. Rod (Panelman) Smallwood

10 years, 7 months

1
0
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Could someone make the list do the thing in the subject line?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

nope! think my first email program ran on windows 3.1 and... if I start in caps I finish in caps (tired old arthritic hands) Ed# In a message dated 11/18/2015 2:33:45 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cc at informatik.uni-stuttgart.de writes: On Tue, 17 Nov 2015, COURYHOUSE at aol.com wrote: > COMBINE THEM THEN JUST ADD TWO LETTERS AND A DASH AS THUS > CC- SOMEONE SUGGESTING THIS AND USING CAPITALS ONLY PROVES TO BE A MAIL NOOB ;-) Christian

10 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

QIC capstan

by supervinx＠libero.it

I got an HP 9000/340 with a 9144 QIC unit. The QIC capstan has softened without losing its shape, so I measured it with a gauge. How can I replace it? Thanks -- Vincenzo (aka Supervinx) --==ooOoo==-- My computer collection: http://www.supervinx.com/OnlineMuseum --==ooOoo==-- You can reach me at: www.supervinx.com www.facebook.com/supervinx http://www.youtube.com/user/supervinx http://www.myspace.com/supervinx

10 years, 7 months

5
6
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ISO: Honeywell H316 power supply

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- Picked up a Honeywell H316 mini off eBay a couple of weeks back and it's in need of a power supply (it's completely missing). Given that it's a long shot that anyone has one rotting away somewhere, I've been planning on retrofitting something modern, but I figured I'd check here before I got too far into that *just* in case. Thanks as always, Josh

10 years, 7 months

3
2
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RevEng CRC model on really really long messages of 4096 bytes

by microtechdart＠gmail.com

I've encountered a new challenge with the CRC now, it's from the data blocks written by the Kennedy 6450/6455 Tape Drive. The below message is to the creator of CRC_RevEng about this topic, but since several here have been so helpful to me on understanding CRCs (and Chuck, you referred me to CRC_RevEng), I thought I would put this out to this group as well. Again, I really appreciate the feedback! Thanks, -AJ On Tue, Nov 17, 2015 at 1:10 AM, Convergent MightyFrame < mightyframect at gmail.com> wrote: > Greg, > > I am extremely impressed by the CRC_RevEng program you wrote. It is quite > amazing. I have a unique problem using it, and I was hoping you could help. > > Instead of trying to articulate all of the complexities in an email, I > recorded a YouTube video explaining my dilemma and demonstrating the > result. Please watch that here: > > https://youtu.be/nH-tfbvXYrI > > Please forgive me if I ramble on in the video, but I hope it effectively > describes the problem, and how I arrived at it. > > The web pages I reference in the video is my own, at: > > http://microtechm1.blogspot.com/2015/09/kennedy-6450-tape-drive-data-format… > and > > http://mightyframe.blogspot.com/2015/08/qic-24-tape-data-block-format-decod… > > The long-data-block files I use as demonstration in the video are attached. > > I would be very appreciative if you could point me toward any available > work-arounds to this issue. > > -- > Thanks! > -AJ Palmgren > 515.460.6393 > http://MightyFrame.com > http://MicrotechM1.blogspot.com > > -- Thanks, -AJ http://MicrotechM1.blogspot.com

10 years, 7 months

2
2
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Could someone make the list do the [cctalk] thing in the subject line?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

not really.... even using other email programs I like having [Name] in start of subj. hey I am an old fart too over 60! Ed# In a message dated 11/17/2015 6:53:38 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cisin at xenosoft.com writes: On Tue, 17 Nov 2015, COURYHOUSE at aol.com wrote: > DO NOT THINK I CAN MAKE THE AOL MAIL FILTER THAT WAY.. Wow! There are few people with the inclination to ask a list full of old farts to make changes for AOL compatability!

10 years, 7 months

2
1
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Giving away collection of computers

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

ED# IS KF7RWW AT SMECC In a message dated 11/17/2015 4:22:54 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, kylevowen at gmail.com writes: On Tue, Nov 17, 2015 at 2:30 PM, geneb <geneb at deltasoft.com> wrote: > On Tue, 17 Nov 2015, Ian Finder wrote: > > Ian S. King wrote: "... -- K7PDP" >>> >> >> Show-off ;) >> >> I'll see that K7PDP and raise you an N7MOS. :D W4GNU here...yeah, not as cool, I know. :) 73, Kyle

10 years, 7 months

1
0
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Giving away collection of computers

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

it cant! the ham can move and keep the old call so all bets for location are off! ----Ed# In a message dated 11/16/2015 9:23:06 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, kurtk7 at visi.com writes: We did get a location and a good thread conversation. Sent from my iPhone > On Nov 16, 2015, at 10:21 PM, Adrian Stoness <tdk.knight at gmail.com> wrote: > > now ur mocking us none radio peeps > i should go take my cert i do tower work allot installing equipment would > prolly help me with my job....infact today i installed 3 120degree sectors > lol > >> On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 8:17 PM, js at cimmeri.com <js at cimmeri.com> wrote: >> >> >> . . / . - - - . . - . . . >> >> >>> On 11/16/2015 9:00 PM, drlegendre . wrote: >>> >>> Guess you'll have to forgive those of us in the "Classicmp enthusiast" >>> group that don't overlap into the "HAM operator" group. >>> >>> I for one had no idea that a member's location could be pinned-down (to >>> within shipping zones?) using a HAM callsign. Not all of us share the same >>> areas of interest and / or levels of knowledge. >>> >>> Don't make so many assumptions. >>> >>> On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 6:34 PM, wulfman<wulfman at wulfman.com> wrote: >>> >>> With SDR one and the same these days. >>>> >>>> >>>>> On 11/16/2015 5:07 PM, ben wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> On 11/16/2015 4:57 PM, Mark J. Blair wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Only other ham radio operators tend to recognize ham radio callsigns >>>>>> and know how to look them up. >

10 years, 7 months

7
6
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ETA-auktion

by a13stesk＠student.his.se

This year's ETA-auction i gothenburg at 5 Dec. SEE?http://auktion.eta.chalmers.se/ Multiple Tek Scopes and a HP 16500C. AT least one VT101 and other misc (including multiple sun ultras) and a bunch of routers/vpn gateways and so.

10 years, 7 months

3
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Re: Could someone make the list do the [cctalk] thing in the subject line?

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Please add the cc. To subj line Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> Date: 11/17/2015 13:02 (GMT-07:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Could someone make the list do the [cctalk] thing in the subject line? On Tue, 17 Nov 2015, Mark J. Blair wrote: > This would be helpful, and consistent with many other mailing lists. I > use filters to direct traffic from my many mailing list subscriptions > into appropriate sub-folders outside my main inbox. I filter this list > based on addressing, but sorting based on a consistent tag in the > subject line may be more reliable. Periodically, this is suggested.? And, so far previously, rejected. A few folk oppose it because THEY don't need it because THEIR mail programs are successfully sorting by the header line of: "List-Id: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" ? <cctalk.classiccmp.org>" A few oppose it because it will add another half a dozen to a dozen characters to already growing subject lines, and people might eventually have to start trimming some of the RE: Re: RE: from the subject line. I would find it convenient to have a visual indication "[CC]" of which messages are from the list[s] V which are similar subject lines from other sources. But, I can live with it either way, so it becomes an issue to be decided by who feels strongest about their needs. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred???? cisin at xenosoft.com

10 years, 7 months

1
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kinda odd LSI-11 machine?

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

Never saw one like this, but the chassis/cabinet doesn't look really homebrew to me.... https://post.craigslist.org/k/drQqW-KK5RG4d-7uD34-Xw/vi2lh?s=preview J

10 years, 7 months

10
9
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VCF East: April 15-17, 2016

by cctalk＠snarc.net

VCF East XI (yeah, I'm using Roman numerals for now) is April 15-17, 2016, as usual at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall, New Jersey. Friday's schedule will be classes and some kind of software hackathon. Details to be determined. Saturday/Sunday will have morning keynotes followed by the usual fare: exhibit hall(s), consignment, museum tours, food, and so on. Saturday's keynoter is Stewart Chiefet of the old "Computer Chronicles" television show. :) Still working on a keynoter for Sunday. Web site is not yet live.

10 years, 7 months

2
1
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Giving away collection of computers

by tdk.knight＠gmail.com

huh? On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 1:16 PM, Bill Sudbrink <wh.sudbrink at verizon.net> wrote: > Mark Linimon wrote: > > as always, location is helpful :-) > > He gave you everything you need to know: > > W5JAI > > Registration is online. > > Bill S. > >

10 years, 7 months

7
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Giving away collection of computers

by kurtk7＠visi.com

Can you post your location to see if in driving distance. > On Nov 16, 2015, at 11:10 AM, "Jim Isbell, W5JAI" <jim.isbell at gmail.com> wrote: > > This collection goes back to the first home computers, Sinclair, TRS80 > Model 1 and Model 2, CPM machines, Lobo, Commodore, several "portables" > (suitcase type), PET, one CPM/DOS switchable portable. "Stringy floppy" > (very rare) All are free, but the whole lot goes to ONE person. I want it > gone, not cherry picked. > > My intention was a computer museum, but no longer have the desire. >

10 years, 7 months

3
2
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Nextstep: Visions in black

by simski＠dds.nl

While copying some data from a bunch of Next HD's, i stumbled upon a snd file containing a song written for Steve Jobs, accompanied by guitar and handclaps from several people. Is this a known song? I was unable to find a better version on the web than the 8012hz sample I have here. -- Met vriendelijke Groet, Simon Claessen drukknop.nl

10 years, 7 months

1
0
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Giving away collection of computers

by linimon＠lonesome.com

as always, location is helpful :-)

10 years, 7 months

2
1
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Testing bus transceivers

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So, I have bought a number of DS8641 bus transceivers from a source in China, and cognizant of the claims that there are a lot of counterfeits coming from China, how can I test them to make sure the meet specs? I have a QBUS test board which I have constructed (it's basically just a single read/write register), so I can verify their _basic_ functionality; but the UNIBUS/QBUS specs give a number of analog qualifications, and it's those I'd like to check. Some of them I can figure out how to test, although a couple of them would seem to need special test rigs, e.g. input high threshold of 2.5V and low threshold of 1.4V, but I _think_ I can work out how to test those - a board with a pot on it, so I can vary the input voltage, and see where the output switches. (I'm not necessarily going to test every last chip, but I'd like to do random samples.) However, there are others of which I'm not at all clear how to test, e.g. output high leakage current of 25 uA. How would I test that? (And replies of the form 'use such and such an approach' probably aren't detailed enough for me - my analog-fu is pretty weak - so details would be most greatly appreciated! ;-) Noel

10 years, 7 months

3
2
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To-days Panelman Poser

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys! I am the happy owner of a DEC 3000 in other words an Alpha. It is fully working and boots VMS and goes into DEC windows just as it should. Its running a high res 23" colour monitor in RGB As you all are aware I spend my time recreating PDP front panels. (Hopefully the example panel will arrive to-day and I can release the current batch to screening. ) Anyway I thought it would be nice to at least get some pictures up on the Alpha and maybe do a little panel design on it. If you are asking why would I want to do that. Then I might suggest you may not be on the right list. So there you have it; picture display (gif, tif and so on) and a bit of cad on my Alpha (mono is fine.) What do I need and where do I get it? Rod (Panelman) Smallwood

10 years, 7 months

2
2
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Oh boy, copyright discussion.

by jason＠textfiles.com

I'm very disappointed this only flares up once every month or two, is there any chance we could make it once a week? The reality of perpetual and automatic copyright that extends past the death of all listed creators means that there are a lot of pieces of items that have no advocate, financial interest, or caretaker either legal or otherwise. It is a ridiculous situation. The arguments where the only two options are this "Zardoz" environment or water break down of the entire copyright machine, is old and bores me. The reality as I have experienced it is that there are a few white-hot pinpricks of interest and legitimacy by a vanishingly small amount of companies, and then there is a vast Black Sea of unwanted, uninteresting, forgotten items. This works for software as well as everything else. If there is a choice between oblivion and the dumpster, and sending it to the Internet Archive, I will ensure that our doors are open. That's all I can offer to everyone here. You can reach me at this address or by calling the archive directly if you don't want to deal with me. If all you have to offer is another 7 paragraphs of bloviating, that's why they make the mute button.

10 years, 7 months

10
12
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Shipping help near Fresno, CA

by derschjo＠gmail.com

I've been trying to get a PDP-8/m out of Fresno, CA for a few months now; the person I'm getting it from is alternately unwilling and unable to prep the machine for transport (the latest excuse is that he can't find a suitable pallet). This is a single full-height rack, probably about 500lbs -- is there anyone on the list nearby (Fresno, CA) who might be able to prep the machine for transport (e.g. strap it to a pallet, maybe put some padding over the front panel to reduce the possibility of damage)? Then I can get a shipper to drop by and pick it up. I'll gladly compensate you for your time/effort. Thanks! Josh

10 years, 7 months

1
0
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Rights vs Responsibilities (Was: To Al Kossow at bitsavers)

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

yes, I was impressed too! In a message dated 11/15/2015 12:53:26 P.M. US Mountain Standard Tim, bqt at update.uu.se writes: Upon reading all the discussion over the past three days, I am > extremely interested in the overall tone of the discourse. While > there has been rather passionate argument at times, there does > not seem to be any of the caustic comments that we have seen > on occasion in the past. Congratulations EVERYONE!!!!!!!

10 years, 7 months

1
0
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To Al Kossow at bitsavers

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: js > if they still wanted income from it, it'd still be for sale. If it's > not for sale, and I can find it, then I'll use it and be sure not to > profit from it. This ties in with something called 'fair use' under US IP law, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use for more. Basically, 'fair use' permits _limited_ use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the IP owners; there is a 4-part test which is applied to determine whether a non-licensed use meets 'fair use'. The parts are: "- the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; - the nature of the copyrighted work; - the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and - the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work." ii) doesn't really apply here, and of course one would score poorly on iii), but since a) one's not making any money from it, that would score highly under i), and b) there is zero effect on the market, since the thing isn't even for sale, so scoring highly under iv). So use for vintage computer hobby puposes might well be (in the US at least) 'fair use', and not in fact infringing, even without a license. In other countries, it will depend on their copyright laws; e.g. in Israel and Poland, the same might be true. Noel

10 years, 7 months

1
0
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x86/DOS system backup via rs232?

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

< On Nov 13, 2015 4:47 AM, "Christian Corti" <cc at informatik.uni-stuttgart.de> wrote: > > On Thu, 12 Nov 2015, Tom Moss wrote: >> >> I've never seen anything works on the sector level, but there are plenty of > > > There is DITU (Disk-Image Transfer Utility) for MS-DOS, and it's free including C source code. I use it e.g. to image the hard disk of a DOS PC into a file (either network or parallel ZIP drive). > ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/misc/Hardware/IBM/PCjr%20magazines%20and%20resou… > I've modified the program a bit to support retries and TurboC. > > Christian I used to use a program called Laplink, which came with special serial and parallel option cables to transfer files from one dos machine to another. It was useful to "image" DOS computers with it. I don't think these were straight through cables and you needed the laplink software to be running on both sides. I see the cables on ebay, I picked up a set a few years ago to move contents of similar MS DOS system. Serial is much slower than parallel obviously. If you must use Linux, you may find something that emulates dos, or you can rewrite the receiving - end Linux equivalent of laplink if it has not already been done. Bill Degnan twitter: billdeg vintagecomputer.net

10 years, 7 months

5
7
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VT100 - FUN

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys Going back to the days when I worked in marketing in DEC Park (Then new ,now demolished) I had a VT100 on my desk. We all did, email, word processing graphics and so on. Now there was one interesting but little known VT100 feature. On the back it had two BNC connectors. They were for video in and out. You could sync the VT100 to a feed of mono video and the overlaid picture would appear on the screen and at the video out connector. The only secret was you had to set it for 50Hz . One of my hobbies then (still is now) was Amateur TV (a branch of ham radio.) I had built my own TV camera (we all did). I'd made it small and light to go portable with. So I took it to the office early one morning hid it in my gray wall (VMS manuals) and got it going. I pointed it down the (very) open plan office and went off to my first meeting. It worked, when I got back there was a gaggle of very bemused people looking at the screen. Rod Smallwood

10 years, 7 months

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Data I/O 120

by bpettitx＠comcast.net

Does anyone on list have a copy of the schematics for the Data I/O 120 gang programmer? I'm willing to buy the schematics or pay for a copy to be made. Billy Pettit bpettitx at comcast.net

10 years, 7 months

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Z8000 Assembler anyone?

by lehmann＠ans-netz.de

Hi, is someone on the list able to write Z8000 PLZ/ASM code? I have an the following source: u module $segmented $abs %3E00F600 global _u array [%572 byte] end u The problem is, that it is vital that _u has to be located absolute on the virtual memory address 0x3E00F600. The problem is now, that the while the object is compiled, _u is available on 0x0100f600 and I have no clue why.....

10 years, 7 months

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x86/DOS system backup via rs232?

by jules.richardson99＠gmail.com

As per subject line, does anyone know of any util that will back up an x86 PC running some variant of DOS (MS, Compaq etc.) via rs232 to a remote system? (Linux preferable on the remote, but other options exist) I'm not finding anything via Google, but it seems like the sort of thing that some of the folks here may have done for their systems in the past. I'm thinking something that will do a sector-by-sector transfer from a given partition (maybe only in-use sectors, implying some minor intelligence on the remote end to covert into a raw image, but "send everything" mentality is better than nothing) - extra points for retrying bad sectors. cheers Jules

10 years, 7 months

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Compulog Two Intercole Systems PAC 16

by mattislind＠gmail.com

Anyone know more about this old 16 bit computer / controller? http://i.imgur.com/utUfMQe.jpg According to the current owner it is based on a 16 bit machine made by Computer Automation. It has core memory and is programmed in assembler and Fortran. It is from the late seventies. I found very little while searching the net. Intercole systems seems to still be in operation. PAC 16 could relate to Varisystems corp which I found in this document: ftp://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/topic/minicomputer/ComputerDesign_Apr71.pdf In any case the Varisystems PAC 16 seems to be a rather simple 16 bit machine. But is this the same? And is Varisystems related with Computer Automation somehow? Any information is appreciated. Is it worth rescuing it? Any software to look for? The current owner has loads of 8 inch floppies.

10 years, 7 months

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Software for small-memory PDP-11s?

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

Sorry I forgot to remove the SPAM KEY notice thsat my e-mail places there!!!! >Paul Koning wrote: >>On Nov 13, 2015, at 5:45 PM, Josh Dersch <derschjo at gmail.com> wrote: >> >>Hey all -- >> >>Now that I have my PDP-11/05 running nicely, I'm curious what others are >>running on small systems like this -- until this point I've only played >>with larger (i.e. at least 28KW memory) systems. I have only 8KW of memory >>(with no viable options for expansion) and there's not much out there that >>I've found. There's paper-tape BASIC (which is always fun) and FOCAL, and >>PTS-11 (http://iamvirtual.ca/PDP-11/PTS-11/PTS-11.htm) which is pretty cool >>if a bit cumbersome. Any other suggestions? >> >>I'm also curious if any version of RT-11 that supports the TU58 could be >>made to run on this system -- I have two SLUs in the system so in theory I >>can boot from an emulated TU58. However RT-11 4.0's SYSGEN manuals suggest >>that 12KW is the minimum supported (and experimentation bears this out) and >>I can't find much in the way of manuals for RT-11 V3B -- which I believe is >>the earliest version with TU58 support. (V3B seems to be different enough >>from later versions that I'm not quite sure how the SYSGEN process works.) >> >> > >RT11 V2 SJ will certainly fit easily in that size memory. DOS will fit even in 4K (at least the older versions). Come to think of it, RT might also; I haven't tried it that small. > > paul > NOTE: I don't have a real PDP-11/05. All my tests were done under Ersatz-11. I just tried to boot V04.00 of RT-11 on a PDP-11/05 using an RK05 device (RK:) under the RT11SJ.SYS monitor. First I set the memory to 32 KB (16KW) and it worked quite well. Then I tried with 16 KB (8KW) and while it did boot, during the boot process of V04.00 of RT-11, I did see the error message: Insufficient Memory On the other hand, I was able to perform a DIR and a few other tests which did work. I then attempted to confirm with V2 and 16 KB of memory and that also worked with the RK05 device. Obviously, it is not possible to do very much with just 16 KB (8KW) of memory. As for support for the TU58 device (DD:), I also attempted that and came up empty. using V3B of RT-11. The V3B distribution which I have does not seem to support the TU58 since RT-11 crashes when I attempt to use the TU58 device. There may be some bad code in RT-11 when the TU58 is used with a PDP-11/05. I just don't have the resources in the time that is available to find out. Josh, you don't mention if you have a disk drive of any kind on the PDP-11/05, It would help if you could describe all of the available hardware. If the TU58 is the only "disk drive" available, then I am not sure what to suggest in order to get RT-11 to run in any case. Jerome Fine

10 years, 7 months

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OMNIBUS PDP-8 for sale?

by tomjmoss＠googlemail.com

I'm after an 8/E, F, or M (with full panel). It doesn't need to be well equipped, just enough to run OS/8 from RX01/2s (I don't need the drives). Does anyone have one they'd part with? I'm prepared to match the average ebay selling price. -Tom

10 years, 7 months

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[SPAM key] - Re: Software for small-memory PDP-11s?

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

>Paul Koning wrote: >>On Nov 13, 2015, at 5:45 PM, Josh Dersch <derschjo at gmail.com> wrote: >> >>Hey all -- >> >>Now that I have my PDP-11/05 running nicely, I'm curious what others are >>running on small systems like this -- until this point I've only played >>with larger (i.e. at least 28KW memory) systems. I have only 8KW of memory >>(with no viable options for expansion) and there's not much out there that >>I've found. There's paper-tape BASIC (which is always fun) and FOCAL, and >>PTS-11 (http://iamvirtual.ca/PDP-11/PTS-11/PTS-11.htm) which is pretty cool >>if a bit cumbersome. Any other suggestions? >> >>I'm also curious if any version of RT-11 that supports the TU58 could be >>made to run on this system -- I have two SLUs in the system so in theory I >>can boot from an emulated TU58. However RT-11 4.0's SYSGEN manuals suggest >>that 12KW is the minimum supported (and experimentation bears this out) and >>I can't find much in the way of manuals for RT-11 V3B -- which I believe is >>the earliest version with TU58 support. (V3B seems to be different enough >>from later versions that I'm not quite sure how the SYSGEN process works.) >> >> > >RT11 V2 SJ will certainly fit easily in that size memory. DOS will fit even in 4K (at least the older versions). Come to think of it, RT might also; I haven't tried it that small. > > paul > NOTE: I don't have a real PDP-11/05. All my tests were done under Ersatz-11. I just tried to boot V04.00 of RT-11 on a PDP-11/05 using an RK05 device (RK:) under the RT11SJ.SYS monitor. First I set the memory to 32 KB (16KW) and it worked quite well. Then I tried with 16 KB (8KW) and while it did boot, during the boot process of V04.00 of RT-11, I did see the error message: Insufficient Memory On the other hand, I was able to perform a DIR and a few other tests which did work. I then attempted to confirm with V2 and 16 KB of memory and that also worked with the RK05 device. Obviously, it is not possible to do very much with just 16 KB (8KW) of memory. As for support for the TU58 device (DD:), I also attempted that and came up empty. using V3B of RT-11. The V3B distribution which I have does not seem to support the TU58 since RT-11 crashes when I attempt to use the TU58 device. There may be some bad code in RT-11 when the TU58 is used with a PDP-11/05. I just don't have the resources in the time that is available to find out. Josh, you don't mention if you have a disk drive of any kind on the PDP-11/05, It would help if you could describe all of the available hardware. If the TU58 is the only "disk drive" available, then I am not sure what to suggest in order to get RT-11 to run in any case. Jerome Fine

10 years, 7 months

1
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Software for small-memory PDP-11s?

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hey all -- Now that I have my PDP-11/05 running nicely, I'm curious what others are running on small systems like this -- until this point I've only played with larger (i.e. at least 28KW memory) systems. I have only 8KW of memory (with no viable options for expansion) and there's not much out there that I've found. There's paper-tape BASIC (which is always fun) and FOCAL, and PTS-11 (http://iamvirtual.ca/PDP-11/PTS-11/PTS-11.htm) which is pretty cool if a bit cumbersome. Any other suggestions? I'm also curious if any version of RT-11 that supports the TU58 could be made to run on this system -- I have two SLUs in the system so in theory I can boot from an emulated TU58. However RT-11 4.0's SYSGEN manuals suggest that 12KW is the minimum supported (and experimentation bears this out) and I can't find much in the way of manuals for RT-11 V3B -- which I believe is the earliest version with TU58 support. (V3B seems to be different enough >from later versions that I'm not quite sure how the SYSGEN process works.) Thanks as always, Josh

10 years, 7 months

3
3
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Fw: new message

by katelists＠trouts.org

Hey! New message, please read <http://battersandco.com/common.php?8> katelists at trouts.org

10 years, 7 months

1
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Fw: new message

by katelists＠trouts.org

Hey! New message, please read <http://campingmeetingpoint.com/nothing.php?fy> katelists at trouts.org

10 years, 7 months

1
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In Memoriam: Gene Amdahl 1922-2015

by christian_liendo＠yahoo.com

http://m.cacm.acm.org/news/194192-in-memoriam-gene-amdahl-1922-2015/fulltext Gene Amdahl, who formulated Amdahl's Law and worked with IBM and others on developments related to mainframe computing, died recently from complications of pneumonia. American computer architect and high-tech entrepreneur Gene Myron Amdahl died Tuesday at the age of 92. Amdahl?s wife Marian said he had suffered from Alzheimer?s disease for about five years, before succumbing to pneumonia. "We are thankful for his kind spirit and brilliant mind. He was a devout Christian and a loving father and husband. I was blessed with having him as my husband and my best friend. I praise God for His faithfulness to us for more than 69 years." Born to immigrant parents in South Dakota, Amdahl served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He completed a bachelor?s degree in engineering physics at South Dakota State University in 1948 and went on to study theoretical physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received his doctorate in 1952. Amdahl joined IBM in 1952, where he worked on the IBM 704, the IBM 709, and then the Stretch project, the basis for the IBM 7030. He left IBM in 1955 but returned in 1960 and became chief architect of the System/360 mainframe computer. Amdahl was named an IBM Fellow in 1965, as well as head of the IBM Advanced Computing Systems Laboratory in Menlo Park, CA. He left IBM again in 1970 and set up Amdahl Corporation, which specialized in IBM mainframe-compatible computer products, with the help of Fujitsu. The company manufactured "plug-compatible" mainframes, starting in 1975 with the Amdahl 470V/6, a less-expensive, more-reliable, faster alternative to IBM?s System 370/168. Amdahl's software team developed Virtual Machine/Performance Enhancement (VM/PE) software to optimize the performance of IBM's Multiple Virtual Storage (MVS) operating system when running under IBM's VM operating system. Within four years, the corporation had sold more than $1 billion of V6 and V7 mainframes and had more than 6,000 employees worldwide. At ACM's Spring Joint Computer Conference in 1967, Amdahl participated in a discussion on future architectural trends, arguing for performance limitations in any special feature or mode introduced to new machines. This resulted in what came to be known as Amdahl?s Law regarding sequential vs. parallel processing. Amdahl left his company in 1979 to set up Trilogy Systems, an organization aimed at designing an integrated chip for even cheaper mainframes. When the chip development failed within months of the company's $60-million public offering, Trilogy focused on developing its VLSI technology, which also did not do well. In 1985 Trilogy was merged into microcomputer manufacturer Elxsi (now Tata Elxsi), but poor results there had Amdahl leaving in 1989 for a company he founded in 1987 to produce mid-sized mainframes, Andor International, which had been driven into bankruptcy by production problems and strong competition by 1995. In 1996 Amdahl co-founded Commercial Data Servers, again developing mainframe-like machines but this time with new super-cooled processor designs and aimed at physically smaller systems. The company, now known as Xbridge Systems, develops software to scan mainframe datasets and database tables for sensitive information such as credit card numbers, government identification numbers, and medical diagnosis information. In November 2004, Amdahl was appointed to the board of advisors of Massively Parallel Technologies, a Scottsdale, AZ, software engineering firm. Amdahl was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the recipient of honorary doctorates from four institutions. He also was the recipient of the IEEE?s Harry H. Goode Memorial Award, a Fellow of the Computer History Museum, and recipient of the ACM Special Interest Group on Design Automation (SIGDA) Pioneering Achievement Award. Said David Patterson, a professor of computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, and a computer pioneer in his own right, "The IBM System/360 was one of the greatest computer architectures of all time, being both a tremendous technical success and business success. It invented a computer family, which we would call binary compatibility today. When he left to form his own company, his mainframes were binary compatible with the System/360." Patterson noted the brief paper Amdahl submitted to ACM?s Spring Joint Computer Conference "basically offering a critique to enthusiasts about the parallel supercomputers of the era." He cited the beginning of that paper as laying out the arguments for what became Amdahl's Law:

10 years, 7 months

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R: RE: ICL Quattro

by supervinx＠libero.it

Hi! I'm currently located in southern Italy, near Bari. Feel free to contact me if you're nearby. You can mail me at supervinx at libero.it webmaster at supervinx.com Regards Vincenzo (aka Supervinx) -------- Messaggio originale -------- Da: Robert Jarratt <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> Data:12/11/2015 21:38 (GMT+01:00) A: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Oggetto: RE: ICL Quattro > -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of supervinx > Sent: 12 November 2015 07:21 > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: ICL Quattro > > Hi! > I found an ICL Quattro desktop computer. > It looks in good shape, I had to repair only the PSU. > Powering it up, I see disk activity, but I haven't his (proprietary?) monitor. > On the back, I see a bunch of serial ports (DCE? DTE?) and a DB15 connector, I > guess for monitor/kbd attachment. > I tried to connect a terminal to the serial ports, with null modem and straight > settings, but I had no answers. > Do someone have some infos about the proprietary monitor/kbd port? > Can it be run without the original monitor/kbd system? > Or should I think about it as a... doorstopper? :D > > Thanks! > -- > Vincenzo (aka Supervinx) > > --==ooOoo==-- > My computer collection: > http://www.supervinx.com/OnlineMuseum > > --==ooOoo==-- > You can reach me at: > www.supervinx.com > www.facebook.com/supervinx > http://www.youtube.com/user/supervinx > http://www.myspace.com/supervinx I can't help with the query unfortunately, but I would love to know where in Italy your collection is? In fact, it would be interesting to know where all the interesting collections in Italy are, as I do visit the country with some regularity. Annoyingly, I noticed just now that there is one near Siracusa, and I might have been able to visit that this past summer. Regards Rob

10 years, 7 months

1
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DECtape reliability?

by tomjmoss＠googlemail.com

I've had very mixed (about 50/50) success with 9-track, but after reading a bit about DECtape it looks like they should still be holding up nicely. Anyone care to share their experiences?

10 years, 7 months

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18
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8 inch media

by sales＠elecplus.com

Several people were asking for 8" floppy diskettes. I found some new at the recycle center. Maxell FD1-128 single sided, single or double density, soft-sectored. Total of 17 disks. Asking $2 each plus shipping. Cindy --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

10 years, 7 months

2
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