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

by retrojoe＠stateoftheark.ca

Hi All. I've recently come into a really nice VT-320 terminal, but am having a hell of a time getting it to communicate with the outside world (mainly my PiDP-8 and PiDP-11). I've gone to the lowest common denominator, using a USB serial cable and terminal software to verify everything is working before digging into making simh output to a serial terminal. The VT320 only has the DEC-423 MMJ, no RS-232. I found a number of guides that show how to wire up the DEC-423 connector to a DB-9 RS-232, but so far I have struck out. It will receive text from the remote computer, but I do not see anything on the remote when I type on the VT-320. I have loop backed the TX to RX on the VT-320 terminal, and it does work. TX=RX Baud rate? in the VT320 settings, and the data bits, parity, & stop bits match. DEC-423 (lock tab bottom right, pin one on the left, 6 on the right) 1??? DTR 2??? TXD 3??? TXD- 4??? RXD- 5??? RXD 6??? DSR For a cross over cable: 423 #2 goes to DB9 #2 (TX to RX) 423 #3 & #4 to DB9 #5 (TXD- and RXD- to GND) 423 #5 goes to DB9 #3 (RX to TX) 423 #1 to DB9 #6 (DTR to DSR) 423 #6 to DB9 #4 (DSR to DTR) Does this look like it should work? It does leave DB9 RTS and CTS unconnected. Thanks!

5 years, 4 months

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Floppy pressure pad replacement?

by mattislind＠gmail.com

Does anyone have some good hints on what and how to replace them? I have a CDC 8 inch floppy drive with a missing pressure pad. Tried to put some half a millimeter felt cloth with some double adhesive tape to replace it. But it didn't work very well. If I gently pushed the upper pressure pad arm it started to read at least. But it looks like it is possible to over-do it. I added more padding and then it probably got too thick since it now failed again. I guess that if there is a bit too much pressure the signal might be too high in the input amplifier leading to distortion? What is the best pressure pad material and what are you usually replacing it with? /Mattis

5 years, 4 months

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Microvax 3100 VMS 7.3 password reset

by dick.curtis＠ymail.com

> I picked up a microvax 3100 this past weekend from a office that was > shutting down. >> I was able to start the system up, it boots up to a login prompt for VMS > VAX 7.3. >> I do not have any login info for this machine, is there a procedure i can > follow to reset a password to an account? I beg to differ with HP's recommendation (in their doc set) for Devin'ssituation.? HP's description is meant for customer sites to have a copyof usernames/passwords to which they can revert for nasty situationssuch as a corrupted SYSUAF.DAT.? *If* this system has the 'alternate'file, it should have the same problem as the original, of unknownpasswords.? What Devin needs is instructions to break into the system. I happen to know how to do that (used to work in OpenVMS Engineering).Is that something that should be discussed here? Thanks,Dick

5 years, 4 months

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Soldering DB connectors

by rsmilward＠frontier.com

Something that's always worked for me: when soldering a male DB connector (DB9, DB25, whatever -- or really any male/pin style connector), plug it into a mating female connector first. That will hold the pins securely in place and prevent them from sagging in the plastic of the body if your soldering iron is too hot or you hold it on too long. -- **Richard

5 years, 4 months

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Way off topic: posting to the list using default Samsung Android Mail Client

by cctalk＠ibm51xx.net

I am wondering if anyone else has tried using an Android Phone (a Note 10 in my case) with the default Samsung email client to post to this list? Whenever I post, even though the message is correctly formatted on my device, all the CR/LF are removed from my messages. See below for an example: ------- > Can it still be registered?>Is the Author find able? Do he still have 8" floppies? > *** Will it NOT be lost in the mail with COVID 19 ***A deep googlefu might find the author... just saying...;) ------- However, when I sent it, it looked like this: > Can it still be registered? >Is the Author find able? Do he still have 8" floppies? > *** Will it NOT be lost in the mail with COVID 19 *** A deep googlefu might find the author... just saying...;) Sending from trusty old Outlook 2007 on Win 7 works fine with the list and emailing people back directly from the phone seems to work fine as well. It is only when I am replying to the list that the issue occurs. Any ideas/suggestions? TIA! -Ali

5 years, 5 months

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Microvax 3100 VMS 7.3 password reset.

by lyokoboy0＠gmail.com

I picked up a microvax 3100 this past weekend from a office that was shutting down. I was able to start the system up, it boots up to a login prompt for VMS VAX 7.3. I do not have any login info for this machine, is there a procedure i can follow to reset a password to an account? Image of system : https://i.postimg.cc/43bG0nSx/20201111-090018.jpg

5 years, 5 months

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Looking for PDP-11/23+ parts for museum restoration

by stephenbuck＠mac.com

Hi All, I'm working on restoring a DEC PDP-11/23+ for the University of Colorado computer museum and I'm struggling to find a few parts, working or not, needed to complete the system. Please let me know if you have any of these items and would be willing to donate or sell them. You can see a blog I'm keeping of the restoration at?https://headspinlabs.wordpress.com/dec-pdp-11 When finished, it will be on display at?https://mediaarchaeologylab.com/visit Thanks, Steve

5 years, 5 months

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Looking for a boot disk or software...

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

...for a Northern Telcom (Telecom?) Spectron Datascope 4000: https://i.imgur.com/qb4VTpO.jpg Fingers crossed that someone here knows where it can be had. Thanks! g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind. http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home. Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies. ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes. http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!

5 years, 5 months

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Wanted: PDP-8/f or m (with or without cards)

by mosst＠SDF.ORG

Hi All, I'm looking for a PDP-8/f or m. At a minimum I'd like the chassis with PSU, front panel, and backplane as I already have enough spare OMNIBUS boards to build up a basic system, although I'd still be interested in the boards if you have any. Depending on the configuration and condition there's a few things I'd consider trading, namely my PDP-11/34a, AlphaStation DS10, Intel MDS 231, and KIM-1. If the price it right I'd be happy to buy it too. I'm in the UK but would be prepared to ship some of the systems internationally; I can build crates and such. Regards, -Tom mosst at sdf.org SDF Public Access UNIX System - https://sdf.org

5 years, 5 months

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Syquest druve owner in 541 area code? (Usa)

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 08:17 PM 11/8/2020, Bill Degnan via cctalk wrote: > Thus came into my site, if you can help contact me privatelthanks >... > I have an old Syquest 5.25" removable cartridge (44MB) and am >trying to find a service that will get the graphics data off the cartridge >for me. If you have any suggestions I'd LOVE to hear them. It seems >impossible to find anyone with a functioning drive to read this thing. I was thinking about firing up the old (late 80s?) drive I have in storage and trying to image the carts I have. What should I watch for? Any typical failure mode? - John

5 years, 5 months

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Syquest druve owner in 541 area code? (Usa)

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

Thus came into my site, if you can help contact me privatelthanks Bill VintageComputer.net Inquiry Contact Information Name: Robert Email: robwynia at ------ Phone: 541967---- ------------------------- Comments: I have an old Syquest 5.25" removable cartridge (44MB) and am trying to find a service that will get the graphics data off the cartridge for me. If you have any suggestions I'd LOVE to hear them. It seems impossible to find anyone with a functioning drive to read this thing. Thanks for your time,

5 years, 5 months

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R: Floppy disk: one drive per face

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chuck Guzis > Perhaps my mistake with 22Disk was not putting a line in that said "Me > fecit Carolus Guzis Anno MCMLXXXVII" or some such. Love the Michaelangelo reference. I'm curious as to how many others on the list got it. (It's carved into the strap on the Pieta. Apparently when it was first put on display, there was some question as to who'd made, or something like that.) Noel

5 years, 5 months

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Vintage Computer Federation Swap Meet 11/7/2020

by sieler＠allegro.com

Hi, Please remember ... TRIM YOUR DARN POSTS! No one needs to see a hundred+ lines of quoted post just to see a one line reply, no matter what kind of sandwich it was! (And, the guy getting the sandwich had the better deal, IMHO :) thanks, Stan (the other grumpy guy?) Sieler

5 years, 5 months

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Vintage Computer Federation Swap Meet 11/7/2020

by jeffrey＠vcfed.org

The Vintage Computer Federation is having its first Swap Meet event. This swap meet is for vintage computers, radios, TVs, ham radios and related items. FREE FOR BUYERS! VENDORS $20 FOR 1ST SPACE, $10 FOR EACH ADDITIONAL SPACE DATE: November 7, 2020 (RAIN DATE: November 8, 2020) TIME: 9AM to 6PM ADDRESS: Huge Parking lot on Monmouth Boulevard, Wall, NJ between Watson Road and Taft Street Across from InfoAge Museum and Brookdale College GPS location: 40.1848793,-74.0630848 Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B011'05.6%22N+74%C2%B003'47.1%22W/@40.1832946,-74.0661625,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d40.1848793!4d-74.0630848 Satellite Map: http://vcfed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Swap_Meet_Map.png Flyer ? http://vcfed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Swap_Meet_Flyer-1.png Flyer ? http://vcfed.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/VCF_Swap_Meet_2020_Flyer.pdf WEBSITE: http://vcfed.org/wp/vcf-swap-meet If you are interested in renting a space, please fill out this https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSftdpkFQo0CBCatGfqt1OICP-_g22n8nAj… -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey at vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

5 years, 5 months

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FTGH: 3 VAX DATATRIEVE binders

by toby＠telegraphics.com.au

Hi, Offered these in a post last year. 1) VAX DATATRIEVE Reference manual AA-K079E-TE (this is online but version KE079G?) 2) VAX DATATRIEVE Handbook AA-W675B-TE (Does not seem to be online? Willing to scan) 3) VAX DATATRIEVE Guide to Writing Reports AA-P862C-TE For Datatrieve version 4.1 Versions online seem to be for version 3.0? Willing to scan Very clean condition: https://imgur.com/a/w9a3YEY Can post for shipping cost from Toronto ON, Canada. --Toby

5 years, 5 months

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Strange magtape anecdote

by aek＠bitsavers.org

http://mnembler.com/computers_mini_stories.html "George Dragner always wore a belt with a metal dragon buckle. He was a colorful character known for pissing off management. His most famous act was tossing a chair through the window at a customer site. The customer refused to believe that the lack of humidity in the room was screwing up his magnetic tape media. As the tape heads depend on the moisture from the air to prevent the magnetic oxide from being torn off the media from the friction during a rewind. George broke the window to prove his point. He was right ! " There is a minimum RH specified for tape, but "tape heads depend on the moisture from the air" ??

5 years, 5 months

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removing melting rubber from metal?

by guykd＠optusnet.com.au

At 12:14 PM 27/10/2020 -0500, you wrote: >Hi All, > >I have an EP-1 eprom programmer from BP Microsystems. > >The rubber feet melted. It was in my closet. I have no clue how it got >that hot, or if they >are just some composition for them to melt. > >My question is how do I clean this up? Acetone, paint thinner? I scraped >off the feet, so there is >just a few 'streams' of melted rubber down the sides, and a bit that >somehow got inside (also on the side, not on the electronics). > >Just looking for some ideas before I start applying chemicals... > >Thanks, >Kelly It's not heat. Just some rubber types degrade chemically over time. Cross links between the long chain hydrocarbons break, and the solid turns to a semi-liquid. Very sticky liquid. I presume the body of your eprom programmer is painted metal or plastic. So 'acetone and hot air' - NO! The gunky stuff is not terribly soluble. Mineral turps on a tissue pad, rubbing, kind of works. Mechanically scrape off what you can first. Use wooden or plastic spatula to avoid scratching paint. The rub with the pad. Solvents like turps, acetone, IPA etc - always try a little on your surface first to check the material isn't damaged by the solvent. Guy

5 years, 5 months

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removing melting rubber from metal?

by kfergason＠gmail.com

Hi All, I have an EP-1 eprom programmer from BP Microsystems. The rubber feet melted. It was in my closet. I have no clue how it got that hot, or if they are just some composition for them to melt. My question is how do I clean this up? Acetone, paint thinner? I scraped off the feet, so there is just a few 'streams' of melted rubber down the sides, and a bit that somehow got inside (also on the side, not on the electronics). Just looking for some ideas before I start applying chemicals... Thanks, Kelly

5 years, 5 months

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removing melting rubber from metal?

by dennis.grevenstein＠gmail.com

> The rubber feet melted. [?] > I have no clue how it got that hot, or if they are just some composition for them to melt. My question is how do I clean this up? It is probably not heat that melted the rubber. It?s likely degradation. Some rubber parts get dry and break, some parts sort of ?melt? and turn into this sticky, nasty glue. You already got some hints on how to clean this, but if you are nervous, you could start off with just isopropanol (that?s the main ingredient in disinfectant). The advantage here would be that you can?t harm plastic or electronics with that. You could use the common medical grade disinfectant, just don?t drink it ;-) Dennis

5 years, 5 months

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ibm clone break out box

by tdk.knight＠gmail.com

so i got a test point box of some sort for the EVM M4030 system curious on what ibm documents i should be looking on how these things would of been used? since russian ones would be useles with out knowing how to read russian. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-city-police-stabbings-1.5785…

5 years, 5 months

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MOP boot files

by abs＠absd.org

I've been helping dreamlayers with his cleanup of the NetBSD/Linux mopd, ( https://github.com/dreamlayers/netbsd-mopd ) and we were looking at how it handled different a.out MOP files, specifically where the files may be little endian For non MID zero files its easy enough, but little endian MID 0 files are potentially more complicated. https://github.com/abs0/netbsd-mopd/commit/6ab8555817f3dff23c506464d302d1a4… It can netboot Ultrix and the vast panoply of NetBSD MOP boot files in the various a.out and ELF incarnations http://mop.absd.org/netbsd/ (those that are not broken that is :/ ) I was wondering if anyone had links to hand for any other good sources of MOP files? Thanks David

5 years, 5 months

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DG Nova panel font?

by rsmilward＠frontier.com

Speaking of DEC fonts, does anyone know what was used on the Data General Nova machines? Thanks! **Richard IBM 1620 > IBM 1130 > S/360 Model 40 > DG Nova > ...

5 years, 5 months

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Font for DEC indicator panels

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Toby Thain > To get closer I'd need better images of the panels. Hi, I borrowed a DEC inlay from someone (a KA10 CPU bay) and scanned a chunk of it (as much as I could fit into my A4 scanner :-) at 200 dpi: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/jpg/KACPUPanel.jpg I have a TC08 inlay, but it's currently being used in my QSIC display (until we can get the RKV11-F/RPV11-D inlay done :-), and I didn't want to yank it out. As far as I can tell, it's the same font on the two of them. > the closest I know of off the top of my head is Akzidenz Grotesk. The Akzidenz Grotesk Medium is indeed very, very close (other than the zero). Do you happen to know if that font available for use in non-commercial settings? Thanks! Noel

5 years, 5 months

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Next project: 11/24. Does it need memory?--Working-ish!

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach > The last board is a new style 11/24 and it doesn't do anything but it > does have three switch packs. So I just need to find the manual for it Appendix D in the 003 rev of the /24 TM has the details of the -YA.. > In the meantime the UNIBUS problem also appears to be fixed: The > problem was that sure enough: One of the memory slot SPC's (4) did not > have the DMA jumper. Checking grant line continuity is part of system setup for me; the fact than on many backplanes, the DMA grant jumpering is wirewrap on the back of the backplane is a PITA, but back when it wasn't that big a deal. (Heck, configuration jumpering on boards was all soldered wires BITD!) The need for grant continuity is actually a characteristic of the _CPU_, not the bus. I was astonished the first time I played with an /04 (or naybe it was a /34, I forget), because on them, I'm pretty sure (I can't find it in the documentation, but I'm pretty sure I remember it) that on power-on, the CPU checks for grant continuity, and won't work without it. (They all require the M9302 teminator or equivalent, which has active circuitry to turn around an unclaimed grant onto the BSACK line.) When the CPU powers up, it sends grants down the grant lines and expects to see them back on SACK (from the M9302), and it won't operate if this doesn't happen. That floored me when I ran across it, because on the older UNIBUS CPUs I'd worked with BITD (/40's, etc) it was the done thing to be able to leave a gap in the grant _downtream_ of the last card that could do interrupts; no possible operational problem. I'm not sure why DEC added that 'feature'; probably somebody thought it would make systems more robust, but I bet all it did was generate a bunch of Field Circus calls. (Kind of like the LSI-11 'feature' where ODT won't start unless there's working memory at 0 - another wonderful little Easter Egg.) Ironically, although the QBUS uses _exactly_ the same kind of bus grant lines, no QBUS processor seems to check their continuity in this way; I habitually run my QBUS machines without all the slots filled, and F11 and J11 processors all run fine with open grant lines (after the last card that uses interrupts). I guess DEC found out the hard way that that check wasn't useful! But this, as I said, is a characteristic of the CPU, not the bus. > Anyone even know why Q-Bus doesn't need termination QBUS documentation has long ediscussions of maximum cable lengths between backplane sections, but little about cases where termination on both ends is not needed. One exception is in the " pdp11 bus hanbook", pg. 128: If nore than 20 AC loads are included [on a single bacplane], the other end of the bus must be terminated with 120 ohms. The clear implication is that with <20 AC loads, termination at the second end is not needed. No explanation is given as to why, but I had the same thoughts as Patrick Finnegan - that it's down to the very short bus lengths. (With a short bus, the reflection from the un-terminated end will be very close in time - the line length for the lines on a single backplane is spec'd at a max od about 14"; so about 1 nsec. That's on the order of magnitude of the bus signal rise times.) If you think about it, every time you plug in a card, you've added a short branch to the bus on every bus line (since they aren't normally terminated at the transmitter/reveiver chips). But very short branches, so their reflections are even closer in time. Noel

5 years, 5 months

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Next project: 11/24. Does it need memory?--Memory sad!

by technoid6502＠gmail.com

Those sound like ram chip 4116, quite common once, and still available. I have a couple dozen tested ones handy if you want them. (From Atari 800 16k ram modules). 250ns to 350ns, depending. best, Jeff On Tue, 2020-10-27 at 12:00 -0500, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Re: Next project: 11/24. Does it need memory?--Memory sad!

5 years, 5 months

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R65F11

by decguy＠songdog.eskimo.com

Anyone remember the R65F11? It's a Forth microcontroller: 6502 processor with a Forth kernel in ROM, from the mid '80s. I was going through some old stuff in storage (looking for something else) and found an R65F11 with the development ROM and some documentation for building a development board. Looks like a fun little project... I have plenty of projects. If anyone is interested, it's free for actual cost of shipping (could probably go in a U.S. Priority Mail envelope or small box, not sure about overseas options). The backstory: in 1984 I was working for a startup company, and we were looking at various microprocessors for use in a new product. Being a fairly skilled journeyman Forth programmer, I was advocating for the R65F11. I managed to talk the Rockwell sales rep into giving us the development ROM (usually not easily available). We ended up going with a 68000 for the project, and I ended up with the R65F11.

5 years, 5 months

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Next project: 11/24. Does it need memory?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach > Next up is the 11/24, this is one of the 5.25 inch rack mounts with a > CPU, KT24, and no memory. > First question: Will ODT respond at all with no memory on the Unibus? My _guess_ is probably, since on other KDF11 CPU's, ODT works with no memory, but I haven't confirmed that. My PDP-11/24 chassis (a 5-1/4" BA11-L, like yours) I took apart to get the backplane out, so I could work out how the busses work (see below), and I'd need to put it back together before I could try my -12/24.to confirm it. If you could take some pictures of the insides of your BA11-L, that would be both a help to the re-assemblhy, and ancentive to do so. > Can a 128kw memory board from an 11/34 work in an 11/24? Yes and no. See: https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11/24 for more. Note "The top 256 Kbytes of the CPU's address space were devoted to the UNIBUS". So an MS11-L or similar UNIBUS memory can probably be read/written by the CPU, but it won't appear at 0 in the CPU's address space. > Or do I need one of the 11/44 boards to make it go? Whether a KDF11-U will work with no memory at physical 0 is unknown: it would need at least a special bootstrap (since most assume working memory at 0) and a special OS load (ditto). Also, I seem to recall that on the -11/45, with mapping enabled, interrupt vectors are in Kernel D space, so once running, that machine could operate with no working memory at physical 0, but I don't know if KDF11 CPU's use mapped Kernel space for vectors. If you're interested, I can run an test on a KDF11-A and see. Noel

5 years, 5 months

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IBM 360/30 panel, animated, restored

by jwsmail＠jwsss.com

This popped up on the radar tonight (on mine anyway). IBM System 360 30 Console animated mainframe CPU Console 360/30 https://www.ebay.com/itm/324348449949 A bit pricey, but pretty. Luckily I landed one of the boards to run Larry W's emulation of the 2030 , which will be satisfying for me.? (And thanks for releasing that work). Thanks Jim

5 years, 5 months

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DEC mouse

by decguy＠songdog.eskimo.com

Looking to complete a period-correct DEC workstation? Missing the right mouse? Have I got a deal for you! Digital 3-button mouse part number 30-44445-01 rev. C02. PS/2 connector, ball mechanism (not one of those fancy new things with the red light on the bottom). Free for actual cost of shipping. This wasn't what I was looking for in storage either.

5 years, 5 months

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DEC RTM book

by dstalk＠execulink.com

I've searched for this but couldn't find it... Does anyone know if the DEC book "RTM: Register Transfer Modules" published in 1973 is available online? It's an 8.5 x 11 book with red cover and has 50 pages. I think it came with their RTM kit. Don

5 years, 5 months

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non-shunting jumpers?

by brian＠quarterbyte.com

Hi all, Oddball question here: has anyone ever seen a way to cap off or protect standard 0.1" pin header jumpers? Maybe there exist jumper plugs that *don't *conduct across the two pins? I'm looking at a piece of hardware that has some jumper pins on top of the PC board and I'd like to protect against anything accidentally making contact. I have seen surface mount 0.05 pitch pin headers come from their manufacturer with protective caps, but I haven't been able to find anything to apply to 0.1" pin headers that I could by aftermarket. Any ideas would be appreciated! thanks brian

5 years, 5 months

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The weird stuff I keep finding: 19 bit core memory?

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

Now I'm starting to look through boxes to see if I have another 11/24 CPU. I seem to recall picking a second one up somewhere, I also want to see if I still have the driver board for the second Plessy core memory. Might be around, might have been pitched. So far I did find a box of DZ11's. Not sure why I have a dozen of them, they might have been from the USPS haul in days of yore. Anyone need a couple of DZ11's? The real weird one is a quad board H216. I thought it was a Unibus core memory board, but it's 8k*19 bits, which means it came from one place: An MA10 memory box. The only one I may have been exposed to was AI (the original KA10). So question: Did AI use MA10 memory boxes? Did any of that stuff survive? Anyplace else it might have come from? Weird stuff. Got a lot of it.... CZ

5 years, 5 months

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The weird stuff I keep finding: 19 bit core memory?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> (Whether that's all done on the companion driver boards, and the H21x > card would just bring the wiring of the two banks out to the edge > connector in parallel, letting the driver board do what it wants, I > don't know - you'd have to look at the MM11-L engineering drawings/TM.) > The other possibility is that the PDP-10 memory used these boards in > pairs. It's not either! First, I looked at the MM11-L TM, and it talks about how the H214 has "mats" (2D arrays of cores), 1 mat per bit; the H214 has 16 mats. So definitely no effectively 36+ bit wide variant. So, pairs? Well, I looked to see what PDP-10 memory TM's were extant, and there's one for the MF10 (A-MN-MF10-0-MAN-1); and glancing in it, it _does_ use the H216 - with "19 mats" to produce "19-bit word memory banks"! (Exactly how, I didn't have time to stop and read. It's got to be pairs, but at the bank level, not board.) So our guess as to which generation of PDP-10 memories it was used in might have been wrong... Noel

5 years, 5 months

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FYI sunhelp.org down

by macro＠linux-mips.org

Hi, I posted to <rescue at sunhelp.org> and saw my message got stuck in the mail queue. Upon a further inspection I saw that the domain has expired along with `mrbill.net' where the nameservers used to reside and both have been taken by someone else, taking the name service down for `sunhelp.org'. I can still reach Bill Bradford's personal page when I connect to the server by its IPv4 address at: <http://184.94.207.190/>. I do hope nothing bad has really happened to Bill in these difficult times. Anybody knows? Maciej

5 years, 5 months

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The weird stuff I keep finding: 19 bit core memory?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach > My guess is the H215 has two more core fields on it I uploaded a (crappy - sigh) image of an H215 I have to here: https://gunkies.org/wiki/File:H215-core-memory-board.jpg and it's clearly not symmetrical, but does have a slightly bugger blank space than yours. It has a label that says "18x8K" (so 16 bits plus byte parity - for DATOB bus write operations to one byte at a time), which sounds orrect. > Odd they could fit up to 20 bits, maybe an early ECC (16b+4 ECC?) No, this way pre-dates ECC memory (the cost of the extra bits - more cores to string in - was probably more than it was worth), and probably before ECC disks too (I think the first DEC ECC disk was the RP04). > I'll bet that it could work in the 11/05 if one of those boards ever > blow out. That's my guess too; _but_ there might be some jumpering/etc issues to adjust the word width. I.e. the PDP-11 parity H215 is 18 bits wide, which is right for 16-bit words, whereas PDP-10 parity memory would be 36+1 parity bit = 37 bits wide. So there might be 2 banks on one of those cards, and the PDP-11 memory treats them as separate banks, whereas on a -10 they'd be ganged together in parallel. (Whether that's all done on the companion driver boards, and the H21x card would just bring the wiring of the two banks out to the edge connector in parallel, letting the driver board do what it wants, I don't know - you'd have to look at the MM11-L engineering drawings/TM.) The other possibility is that the PDP-10 memory used these boards in pairs. We do have the MA10 Maint Manual, but in a quick look it looks like it doesn't use these boards. So maybe a later -10 memory system? Noel

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non-shunting jumpers?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 01:30 PM 10/22/2020, you wrote: >I have seen surface mount 0.05 pitch >pin headers come from their manufacturer with protective caps, but I >haven't been able to find anything to apply to 0.1" pin headers that I >could by aftermarket. I'd use two jumpers. Hang one off one pin, hang the other off the other. If you wanted to get fancy, superglue them in the middle. - John

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The weird stuff I keep finding: 19 bit core memory?

by rshepprd＠gmail.com

There?s a piece of core on eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/DEC-Digital-H214-Digital-Equipment-Core-Memory-Lit… which claims to be H214. The interesting thing is the label says 8K x 16 but the silkscreen says 8K x 19. Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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The weird stuff I keep finding: 19 bit core memory?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Richard Sheppard > There's a piece of core on eBay .. which claims to be H214. The interesting > thing is the label says 8K x 16 but the silkscreen says 8K x 19. DEC did that a lot; used one silkscreen (and etch) for two different modules, with differing componet sets to produce two different boards (e.g the MSV11-D and -E: http://gunkies.org/wiki/MSV11-D_MOS_memory M8044 and M8045 respectively; the boards all say 'M8045' in the etch, you have to look at the handles). The H214 is the 16-bit wide version of this board, used in the MM11-L UNIBUS memory: https://gunkies.org/wiki/MM11-L_core_memory The parity MM11-LP uses the H215 (an 18-bit wide version), and a G109 instead of the G110 (again, same etch, some components left off for the G110. There's also an H213, used in the MM11-K: https://gunkies.org/wiki/MM11-K_core_memory which is an 8KB version; the H213 looks identical to the H214 at first glance, but if you look closely the core mats are only half as dense. Noel

5 years, 5 months

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ClassicCmp FTP Access?

by cctalk＠ibm51xx.net

Hello,Is anyone else having trouble accessing their FTP/Web space on ClassicCmp? I can still access HTML and files i have uploaded but not FTP in for new files. Thanks.-Ali

5 years, 5 months

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Control Data 449 Special Miniature Computer from 1967?

by steven＠malikoff.com

I was idly browsing early editions of Computer World journal on Google newspapers and found an announcement and picture of the '449', an experimental aerospace computer built by Control Data in 1967 and touted as "the world's smallest computer" at 4" x 4" x 9", of which the logic part is a 4" cube and the rest is the battery. It's on page 3 of Computer World Sep 20 1967: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=v_xunPV0uK0C&dat=19670920&printsec=f… It seems to me it may have been an analogous machine to the Apollo AGS perhaps and would like to know a bit more about it, but I've only been able to find a brief mention of the '449-2 Special Miniature Computer' and that's it. Archive.org hasn't turned up anything. I'm just curious about the tech used, no doubt it used DIPs or flatpack micrologic and a tiny core plane? Steve.

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Vintage Transputer Collection in Tucson

by pschow＠gmail.com

US $16K, located in Tucson, AZ, USA. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Extraordinary-Transputer-collection-Museum-quality… >From listing: ---------------------------------- Unmatched collection of vintage Transputer based systems includes 2 (TWO) Parsytec X-plorer 16-node "desktop supercomputer" systems Tested working, both units can be linked together (cable included) for a 32 node system, tested with Helios 2 x PC (ISA) interface card (IBM meganode) includes on-board transputer 1 x BBK-PCI interface card with dual Parsytec style connectors + super rare cable Parsytec P-CUBE system with 8 nodes So rare that no (other :-) ) images of this unit can even be found on the internet 2 (TWO) Parsys Supernode SN1000 units (original cost ~$500000) Includes a total of 128 transputer nodes, and a scsi disk based operating system Tested working with an included Sun workstation with VME Transputer interface board With original invoices, user manuals, installation DAT tape ++++ 14 (Fourteen) Parsytec dual cpu (power PPC + Transputer) Eurocard boards 6 (Six) CSA Quad transputer boards (PART.1) + 7-slot EISA board and ATX power adaptor (these boards only need the power pins on the ISA connectors to function) Set of "red box" Inmos toolkits/compilers Misc Transputer conference proceedings Spare 4 slot Eurocard backplane and power supply with Transputer link connectors installed Copies of all the major Transputer operating systems (Helios, Idris, TDS, Parix, Taos, Virtuoso, Strand, Paros etc) This is a very large lot so shipping will be expensive, pay no attention to the ebay estimate contact us for a realistic quote Will consider delivering "at cost" (van hire + fuel + 2 overnight motel stops) to the Southwest states (CA, AZ, NM, UT, CO) if pre-paid by cashiers cheque.

5 years, 5 months

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Saving old paper labels on keyboards

by sales＠elecplus.com

Perhaps something like silly putty would work? Although as a precautionary tale, the silly putty from the 60s also removed part of the original ink. I do not know what the current formula would do. As kids, we used to have fun getting reverse images of the colorful comics in the Sunday paper :-) -- Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 830-370-3239 direct

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Next project: 11/24. Does it need memory?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach > Unibus can get annoyed at a lot of things .. Q-Bus is much simpler Not sure I'd concur with that latter. In analog terms the UNIBUS and QBUS are almost identical (which is why the same driver chips such as 8641's are used with both), and at the digital level they essentially identical (asynchronous interlocked request/response for read and write; interrupts using daisy-chained grant lines, with transmitted vectors; DMA, using the basic read/write protocol to transfer data). The (not very) big differences are that the QBUS multiplexes address and data onto a single set of lines, and the more complex multi-level interrupt using a shared single grant line; in both, more complex than the UNIBUS. Perhaps you meant 'easier to use', and that may be so, since most QBUS systems are much smaller (physically). > If I could disable them I could do a normal DL11 and see what I see Looking at the docs, I don't see any way to disable the on-board serial lines. You could probably cut etches to disable them, but I would advise against that, because there are easier/better ways to go. It should be quite easy to investigatwe where the problem is: look at the 'read receive 1 CSR' line, on pin 15 of E106 (with the 'halt' switch on). If that's not hopping around, the CPU isn't running. So then we'd need to look at the basic clock, and see if that's running; if so, then the CPU chip may be failed; we'd need to look at the PAX lines to confirm that. If that CSR line is active, there's a fault somewhere in the console serial line hardware; first step would be to feed characters into the machine, and see if they're coming out the UART. If you don't want to mess with all that, there are CPU boards on eBait for not too much money. (I'd be interested in buying the non-working CPU board, if you go that way.) Noel

5 years, 5 months

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Well Heeled "Rescue"

by wrcooke＠wrcooke.net

Since I'm a bit short of change I thought I'd pass this along. https://www.ebay.com/itm/APPLE-1-Original-1976-Computer-System-1st-Steve-Wo… Will "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery "The names of global variables should start with// " --?https://isocpp.org

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RL02 Disk and maybe pdp11 something at auction.

by Wayne.Sudol＠hotmail.com

I spotted this for an auction from the FORMER OYSTER CREEK NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION. Looks like a pair of RL02 with a pdp something in the middle. I can't make out what model it is from the photo. Anyone know? I'm not bidding as it's too far away from me in Los Angeles but someone else might like it. Small stuff usually sells real cheap on this site as the sellers are usually just trying to get rid of it. Also, there's no current bid. I just would not want it to go to a scrapper. https://www.bidspotter.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/bscunited/catalogue-id-… Wayne

5 years, 5 months

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Next project: 11/24. Does it need memory?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach > still nothing coming out of the serial port. Figured I would document > the settings and see if anyone with an 11/24 can cross-check my settings. Time to stop trying random things and drop the (metaphorical) Big Hammer. Look at the bus, and see if it's trying to talk to the console (i.e. ODT is running). Alas, I looked at the -11/24 Tech Manual - latest rev here: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/dload/EK-11024-TM-003.pdf and it sez (pg. 4-25): "Internal addresses; i.e. serial line unit registers .. There is no external bus cycle performed for an internal address." So you can't look on the UNIBUS. At least we have a set of prints for it: http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/1124/MP01018_1124schem_Aug80.pdf CPU prints start on pg. 145; the TM will tell you what signals to look for. Noel

5 years, 5 months

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RL02 Disk and maybe pdp11 something at auction.

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Guy Sotomayor ggs at shiresoft.com > It looks like it's 11/84 from the badge on the front. In a 10-1/2" box. Seen them in the docs (forget the model number), never seen a real one. Noel

5 years, 5 months

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[HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment] FS: S-100 stuff, electronic stuff, model railroad stuff, books and magazines!

by mechanic_2＠charter.net

Hello all, The S-100 stuff is sold and paid for. GOD Bless and Thanks, rich! On 10/18/2020 9:46 PM, Richard R. Pope wrote: > Hello all, > It looks like the S-100 stuff is available again. Sorry for the > confusion! > GOD Bless and Thanks, > rich! > > On 10/18/2020 12:36 AM, Richard Pope via cctalk wrote: >> Hello all, >> The S-100 stuff is sold pending payment. I appreciate the >> interest and help! >> GOD Bless and Thanks, >> rich! >> >> On 10/17/2020 10:44 PM, Bruce wrote: >>> I believe there is an S-100 meuseum - think they specialize in Altare >>> - but they woul probably be a good home for the stuff >>> >>> Cheers! >>> >>> Bruce >>> >>> Quoting Jeff George <driftwoodturning at gmail.com>: >>> >>>> Hi there, I?m sorry to hear about your expected diagnosis, that?s a >>>> tough >>>> one. My neighbor Had cancer of the liver last year, he tried the ?Rick >>>> Simpson oil? treatment along with standard chemo and is cancer free >>>> today. >>>> Maybe look into it? >>>> >>>> On a selfish note, Im a high school physics teacher in Tn and would >>>> love to >>>> find good price on some equipment so that my students could get >>>> their feet >>>> wet with some actual good equipment. Scopes, frequency generators, >>>> vtvm?s, >>>> dmm?s, etc.. I am a ham radio operator and tinkerer, some skills at >>>> repairing equipment but not a whole lot. >>>> >>>> Please let me know if you have anything appropriate for my students >>>> at a >>>> high school budget. Happy to give you my info so that you can >>>> verify my >>>> employment. >>>> >>>> Jeff >>>> >>>> On Sat, Oct 17, 2020 at 10:14 PM Richard R. Pope >>>> <mechanic_2 at charter.net> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hello all. >>>>> I have 22 S-100 boards for sale. There are two backplanes. >>>>> One is a >>>>> 9 slot bare board and the other is a 19 slot fully populated >>>>> board. Both >>>>> boards have active termination. There are 8080, Z80, FDC, HDC, >>>>> Serial, >>>>> 68030, a Display board, a Front Panel board. There are also 3 Mean >>>>> Well >>>>> power supplies supplying the +9VDC and the +_16VDC. There are also >>>>> voltmeters and amp meters . I want $500 plus shipping for all of >>>>> it. I >>>>> can provide a full inventory and pictures for anyone who is truly >>>>> interested. >>>>> I probably have cancer and if I do I am dying. I want all of >>>>> this >>>>> to go to a good home and not to the landfill. If anyone is >>>>> interested I >>>>> have some test equipment, electronic components, and model railroad >>>>> equipment Please only serious inquires for I tire very easily. >>>>> GOD Bless and Thanks, >>>>> rich! >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>> Paying Attention, Not a Tutor! >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> > > > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- > Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. > View/Reply Online (#110958): > https://groups.io/g/HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment/message/110958 > Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/77650950/89555 > Group Owner: HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment+owner at groups.io > Unsubscribe: > https://groups.io/g/HP-Agilent-Keysight-equipment/leave/3011123/1140944146/… > [mechanic_2 at charter.net] > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- > > >

5 years, 5 months

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11/84 print set

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> anyone willing to chip in some money to help me pay for this? I sent a chunk too. This is a totally great acquisition: I have a KDJ11-B board that has a bad bus driver chip; I was going to apply an ohmmeter to find the guilty party, but just looking at the prints will be so much easier. I see it also includes MSV11-R prints, which is wonderful, since we don't have prints for those either. Too bad it doesn't include the MSV11-J prints (also missing), since the -R's are rare and the -J's are relatively common. Noel

5 years, 5 months

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11/84 print set

by Flash688＠flying-disk.com

Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> wrote: > anyone willing to chip in some money to help me pay for this? > https://www.ebay.com/itm/303733340900 I don't have a PDP-11/84 and likely never will but I just sent you $150. Bitsavers has saved my bacon multiple times and it's only right that I support you. In about a month I hope to be able to deliver the 7-track tape drive to you. Details later. Alan Frisbie

5 years, 5 months

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