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

by BHuntsman＠mail2.cu-portland.edu

Hi there! Anyone know the history of the Compaq MSA1000 RAID controller? It came out right around the time of the DEC acquisition by Compaq, and survived through the HP merger... Does anyone know, was it actually designed by DEC engineers, or Compaq? Thanks in advance! -Ben

13 years, 7 months

5
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Need advice: Intecolor 8001 w/ tapes

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

Acquired an Intecolor 8001, but haven't yet turned it on. Is there anything *specific* about this system to watch out for? I don't have a service manual or schematics. I know that on the CompuColor II, a close relative, the CRT controller IC is sensitive to over voltage. Thanks- Steve. See pics here: http://oldcomputers.net/temp/isc-1.jpg http://oldcomputers.net/temp/isc-2.jpg http://oldcomputers.net/temp/isc-3.jpg Keyboard not shown.

13 years, 7 months

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IBM Coax terminals, professionally refurbished

by sales＠elecplus.com

A number of people have asked abt coax terminals. I have a buddy, Rich Rappaport at RJR Electronics, that does a fantastic job of professionally refurbishing these. They come with a 90-day warranty. IBM 3472 Green/Amber Terminal Monitor $125 IBM 3472 Logic & Swivel $35 IBM 3472 122-Keyboard $60 Same prices for 3481 or 3482. He will ship within the US. Shipping is additional. Rich Rappaport RJR Electronics 5300-B Westpark Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30336 rjrelectronics at aol.com 404-349-7600 Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.2793 / Virus Database: 2629/5920 - Release Date: 11/26/12

13 years, 7 months

1
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IBM 3278-2 terminal, for those that asked

by sales＠elecplus.com

The unit powers on, lights one and 2 come on, and that is it. My IBM buddies tell me it is because I don't have the mainframe to test it on. No evidence of screen burn. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.2793 / Virus Database: 2629/5920 - Release Date: 11/26/12

13 years, 7 months

1
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Apple III and Lisa

by sales＠elecplus.com

For those who asked, the Apple III powers on, the screen comes up, give a msg abt mem test, and that is all it does. I do not have the software. The Lisa, I don't have a kbd that I know of, and the power on button gives no results. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.2793 / Virus Database: 2629/5920 - Release Date: 11/26/12

13 years, 7 months

1
0
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Bogus VT420 on Ebay

by mloewen＠cpumagic.scol.pa.us

I ran across this on Ebay: 160925314748 The pictures are from my web site, and the description AND serial number listed are lifted right off my page: http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/Terminals/VT420.html Even more amazing, someone apparently already bought one and gave positive feedback! Needless to say, my terminal is not for sale. I've filed a fraudulent listing complaint. Mike Loewen mloewen at cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

13 years, 7 months

4
4
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PDP-10 SAV File Format

by billdeg＠degnanco.com

> > > I've downloaded several ks10 instruction set diagnostics in .SAV file > format from trailing-edge.com. > > In a 36-bit world, I think I understand the .SAV file format. I can't > figure out the format that I've retrieved. > > I've even tried loading the .SAV files that I've retrieved into SIMH but > SIMH complains about a "Format Error". > > Any clues? Did I mung the files copying them from the website? > > Rob. > Rob, The .SV file format from OS/8 (PDP 8's OS) is kind of like .SAV...Maybe someone renamed the file extension for some reason? Bill

13 years, 7 months

3
2
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VAXstation 2000 and PDP11?

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

A curious item has come up on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251189751428&ssPageName =ADME:B:SS:GB:1123 Was there some kind of PDP11 addon to a 2000? Or is that just a PDP11 label stuck to a VAXstation 2000? Regards Rob

13 years, 7 months

5
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VAX 4000-300 and a CQD-423 Qbus SCSI adapter questions - solved

by ddsnyder＠zoominternet.net

Seems as though the CQD-423 likes another CSR address from the one I chose. Set it to 772150 solved the problem. This address was at one time for a KFQSA DSSI module. >>> KA670-A V3.4, VMB 2.12 Performing normal system tests. 66..65..64..63..62..61..60..59..58..57..56..55..54..53..52..51.. 50..49..48..47..46..45..44..43..42..41..40..39..38..37..36..35.. 34..33..32..31..30..29..28..27..26..25..24..23..22..21..20..19.. 18..17..16..15..14..13..12..11..10..09..08..07..06..05..04..03.. Tests completed. >>>show device DSSI Bus 0 Node 5 (DISK45) -DIA5 (RF72) DSSI Bus 0 Node 7 (*) DSSI Bus 1 Node 7 (*) UQSSP Disk Controller 0 (772150) -DUA2 (RA90) -DUA3 (RA90) UQSSP Tape Controller 0 (774500) Ethernet Adapter -EZA0 (08-00-2B-0B-B3-6E) >>>show qbus Scan of Qbus I/O Space -20000124 (760444) = 0000 -20000126 (760446) = 0B40 -20001468 (772150) = 0000 RQDX3/KDA50/RRD50/RQC25/KFQSA-DISK -2000146A (772152) = 0B00 -20001940 (774500) = 0000 TQK50/TQK70/TU81E/RV20/KFQSA-TAPE -20001942 (774502) = 0BC0 -20001F40 (777500) = 0020 IPCR Scan of Qbus Memory Space >>> To those that responded, thanks, to those who watched and have Qbus gear, another entry for the notebook of Qbus info. Dan Snyder Butler, PA

13 years, 7 months

2
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Upgrading Memory on a VAXstation 3100 Model 38

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I recently acquired a bunch of MS42 memory options boards (several 4MB, one 8MB and one 12MB). The 12MB one could be used to take my machine from 20MB to the full complement of 32MB. The trouble is that the mounting posts used when you only have one memory option board foul the second memory option board, the manual tells me to break the old posts off, but I don't want to do any physical damage to the machine (would prefer to stick to 20MB if I have to). Is it possible to get the mounting posts out without breaking them? Or, does anyone have any spare ones? Ideally I also need the E clips to keep the two memory options boards properly spaced, I suspect I can survive without them, but if anyone has any of these going spare I'd be interested in some. Regards Rob

13 years, 7 months

1
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manx 2.0.3 is online

by legalize＠xmission.com

Hi All, Over the past year I've been working on manx now and then. Mostly I wanted to add a convenient way for me to incorporate scanned content I've contributed to bitsavers into manx. That system has been in testing for a little while now and I believe I've gotten things working to the point where they are usable by myself and a few select users to add new content to manx. For end-users you'll notice a few little bugs fixed and some new features. There is now an RSS feed of documents added to manx so that you can track new additions to manx. <http://manx.classiccmp.org/rss.php> is an RSS feed of the 200 most recently added documents. If you see any problems with manx, please file a bug report at <http://manx.codeplex.com>. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book <http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline> The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org> The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org> Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>

13 years, 7 months

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FW: [N8VEM: 15014] SCSI2IDE Progress

by LYNCHAJ＠YAHOO.COM

Major progress to report on the SCSI to IDE/SD bridge project. Now the IDE subsystem and the core CPU/RAM/UART are confirmed working with the debug monitor. The SCSI subsystem is responsive and development continues on the firmware. This will be real work since the Z53C80 will be operating in target mode versus host mode but I think it is doable. It will probably will never be a speed demon but should work fine for older slower SCSI-1 devices which is the intended audience. The project is not architecture specific. At least in theory this board could be useful for a wide variety of computers such as Atari, Amiga, Mac, DEC, etc as well as less intuitive SCSI-1 using machines such as sewing machines, synthesizers, lab equipment, etc. Please contact me if you are interested in joining the development team. Thanks and have a happy holidays! Andrew Lynch From: Andrew Lynch [mailto:LYNCHAJ at YAHOO.COM] Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2012 11:22 AM To: 'n8vem at googlegroups.com' Subject: RE: [N8VEM: 15014] SCSI2IDE Progress Thanks Wayne! That's fantastic news! Woo Hoo! Thank you very much! It sounds like we may need a change to the Flash ROM write logic. I will take a look to see if I can figure out what is causing the glitch. Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch From: n8vem at googlegroups.com [mailto:n8vem at googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Wayne Warthen Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2012 12:07 AM To: n8vem at googlegroups.com Subject: [N8VEM: 15014] SCSI2IDE Progress I'm happy to report a little progress on the SCSI2IDE front. Today, I was able to prove out the basic board with Zapple Monitor. I was also able to drop in the existing PPIDE driver from RomWBW and prove out the PPIDE interface to a CF card (basic sector read/write tests worked). Finally, I was also able to read/write the mode data on the SCSI controller chip. This is all still a bit of a hack, but definitely coming together... The 32K flash chip on the board was giving me some trouble. The chip kept getting corrupted during power on/off cycles. I finally severed the /WR line and tied it high. The chip does have a software write protect mechanism, but I was afraid to use it because I wasn't sure if my programmer would know how to unprotect it. I intend to clean up my work and post a work-in-progress build on the Wiki in a few days. -Wayne -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "N8VEM" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/n8vem/-/hLjTpXsUw_cJ. To post to this group, send email to n8vem at googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to n8vem+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/n8vem?hl=en.

13 years, 7 months

1
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BGA resoldering - flux?

by cisin＠xenosoft.com

On Thu, 22 Nov 2012, Scott Quinn wrote: > My plan was to ramp it up to 400F in an oven, soak for 5 mins, then cool > down to minimize thermal issues. Does this sound good? Is 400 degrees anywhere close to hot enough?

13 years, 7 months

5
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Windows memory requirements [was RE: Google v AltaVista - Re: Big Alphas (was Re: FS: HP AlphaServer DS15)]

by RichA＠vulcan.com

From: Liam Proven Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2012 6:57 AM > Ah, apparently *all* the Win9x codebase struggles with approaching a > gig. > For some of them, you can't /install/ with more than a certain amount, > but once it's running you can put the extra RAM back in. Not just the 9x systems. Back when I was doing systems administration at XKL, I brought in a new Dell server (dual Pentium 3 Xeons, 4GB RAM in 1 card, you know, little box for 1997 :-) running NT 4.0 Terminal Server. As I was adding engineering applications to the base install, a DLL got overwritten, the box crashed, and I had to re-install from the ground up--beginning about 19:00 on a Friday night. Long story short, I was on the phone to Round Rock from about 21:00 till 06:00 the next morning, struggling with the install, which would die at the point where the system re-boots to run from the disk instead of the CD. Turned out that the install version could not run in more than 1GB. After the shift change at Dell, the new guy on the phone said he thought there was a BIOS setting which would handle the issue, rather than my having to have a 1GB card FedEx'd for Monday morning. Yup, the BIOS indeed had a setting which was named roughly "Pretend I have only 256MB in this box". Gack. Rich Alderson Vintage Computing Sr. Systems Engineer Vulcan, Inc. 505 5th Avenue S, Suite 900 Seattle, WA 98104 mailto:RichA at vulcan.com mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org http://www.LivingComputerMuseum.org/

13 years, 7 months

3
3
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YouTube take on my Commodore PET 2001 32-N

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

More YouTube reveals showing computers in my collection which may be of interest to some. This time my Commodore Pet 3001 32-N (CBM 3032) http://youtu.be/H42ZPSw8EE8 Terry Stewart (Tez)

13 years, 7 months

1
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cctalk Digest, Vol 111, Issue 49

by joerg.sigle＠jsigle.com

Hi. You might google for people fixing nvidia notebook graphic boards like in the Dell M90. They report success in temperature ranges from 120 .. 200?C in their kitchen ovens for 20 minutes, where the solder may not melt, but apparenly, the heating suffices to re-establish contact for weeks thru months. I find it especially interesting that the lower temperatures also seem to work. I've even seen a poll on who tried which temperature. Sadly, who made that poll only asked for successful attempts, not failures, so their original answer on "what is the best temperature to recommend" would never be answered... Kind regards, js On 23.11.2012 19:00, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Message: 18 Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2012 08:28:36 -0800 (PST) From: Fred Cisin > <cisin at xenosoft.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic > Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: BGA resoldering - flux? > Message-ID: <20121123082818.P57681 at shell.lmi.net> Content-Type: > TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Thu, 22 Nov 2012, Scott Quinn wrote: >> >My plan was to ramp it up to 400F in an oven, soak for 5 mins, then cool >> >down to minimize thermal issues. Does this sound good? > Is 400 degrees anywhere close to hot enough? -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. med. J?rg M. Sigle +41-76-276-8694 http://www.ql-recorder.com +41-32-51-22-944 http://www.jsigle.com Have a lovely day... +49-176-964-35413

13 years, 7 months

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Hobbyist CP/M home brew computer PCBs available!

by LYNCHAJ＠YAHOO.COM

Hi If anyone is interested in building their own CP/M or other hobbyist home brew computer there are plenty of N8VEM ECB PCBs available. These can be used to build your own system from scratch or to augment an existing home brew computer. The ECB standard is essentially a Z80 bus so these PCBs are easy to interface into most any home brew system. They are also reliable and easy to assemble using only through hole components (no SMT or exotic technologies). Here is the current inventory of PCBs. As you can see there are many boards still available for the ECB systems. http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/PCB-Inventory The ECB PCBs are $20 each plus $2 shipping in the US and $5 elsewhere. Most builders send a PayPal to LYNCHAJ at YAHOO.COM but other arrangements are possible. All of the design information like schematics, PCB layout, KiCAD EDA files, software, build instructions, parts lists, etc are all free and publicly posted on the N8VEM wiki. If funds and/or PayPal is an issue, we can make trades for certain computer parts, electronic components, tools, metals, coins, unused gift cards, shipping materials, scrap, etc. Please let's discuss! Thanks and have a happy holidays! Andrew Lynch

13 years, 7 months

1
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Don Maslin collection status

by aek＠bitsavers.org

After being contacted by Don's niece, I went down on behalf of CHM in July and retrieved every box of media that was in the storage unit from his garage. I've spent several months going through everything, including the PCs that were there, and could not find what I had assumed were disk images that are described in the 'sysdisk.txt' file that Don maintained which I've attached. Does anyone have any contacts with the San Diego folks that knew Don that could help with figuring out where these images would have been? It's possible either they were on more modern PCs, or on a CP/M system. CHM is not willing to take everything that is still in the storage unit (mostly paper and the computers that were in the garage). I'm going to have to make a pretty strong case for trying to recover any of the systems that are still there.

13 years, 7 months

13
43
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Gooey TU58 rollers

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Gooey TU58 rollers > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:39:20 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 8/27/07, B M <iamvirtual at gmail.com> wrote: >> I am trying to get a Vax-11/750 machine up and running. It looks like the TU58 drive >> is suffering from the 'gooey roller syndrome'. > >Unsurprising. > >> I see that people have successfully used 1/2 inch (ID) Tygon tubing to replace the >> goo. Is there any specific type of Tygon tubing (eg. R3603, R2000, etc.) that is used? > >I don't know the particular variety I used in mine - I just went to >the Lowe's down the street and bought a foot of 1/2" ID tubing - >whatever they had on the shelf. I was unaware of a large amount of >varieties of tubing, so I just used what they had in stock, and it >worked perfectly. > >-ethan I started that many years ago like 1995ish. I spec'd Tygon (brnad name) as that was available to me. Most any generic Vinyl tubing works so long as it fits tight and has enough wall thickness. After about 10 years it tends to get hard, the fix is obvious. Allison

13 years, 7 months

4
3
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BGA resoldering - flux?

by saquinn624＠aol.com

Fred noted: >On Thu, 22 Nov 2012, Scott Quinn wrote: >> My plan was to ramp it up to 400F in an oven, soak for 5 mins, then cool >> down to minimize thermal issues. Does this sound good? > >Is 400 degrees anywhere close to hot enough? I'm not entirely sure. 60/40 solder melts at around 360, so I was putting a bit of a fudge factor in for lead free. There's few standards (or too many) for lead-free solder, it seems. Would thinned rosin flux work? Alexandre - the earlier LaserJets are and were very good, up to about the 4000 series. Since then it's been much more hit and miss. Quite coincidentally they also shifted production to China, but I'm sure there's absolutely no connection.

13 years, 7 months

2
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Free to a Good Home : uVAXes, LN03, LA210, 1" Instrumentation Recorders, etc [Dorset UK]

by mjd.bishop＠emeritus-solutions.com

The following "stuff" is free to a good home - downsizing the boneyard. Although, if any of it is genuinely rare or valuable I may change my mind. The deal is the usual one : collection from Portland, Dorset, UK; first come first served; collection prior to Xmas '12; no warranty as to specifics or condition; reasonable questions answered in a reasonable timescale. The highlights are: - some small (micro) VAXes - four 1" instrumentation recorders - an LN03 + consumables - an LA210 on a plinth in a large wooden box - geriatric test instruments of marginal serviceability - numerous old scopes requiring repair - some (partial) EPROM programmers "Collectors Items" 4 off SE7000 1" Instrumentation tape recorders + 2 sets of manuals + spare channel cards 1 off LA210 (I think) printer in a wooden box 1 off HP 1652B Logic Analyser [fails BIT] 1 off HP 1600A Logic Analyser [condition unknown] 1 off HP 3561 Spectrum Analyser (audio rather than RF) [flaky] 2 off HP 1200 ? storage CRO mainframes 1 off LN03 laser printer for VAXen + supplies 3 off MDB boxes for RD54 drives (c/w caddies - no disks) 1 off microVax 3400 2 off VAX 4000-200 "Junk" Fax machine - laser print very dirty (not used for several years) HP G55 USB inkjet (not used for several years) 9 off VGA monitors Stag Eprom Eraser - condition unknown Stag Gang Programmer - no PC interface, might be serial Telequipment D83 2 ch CRO 4 off [condition unknown] Gould "3000" 2 ch CRO 2 off [condition unknown] Gould OS250 CRO 2 off [condition unknown] Gould 3500 Cro 1 off [condition unknown] Gould 4050 Cro 1 off [condition unknown] Telequipment D75 1 off [condition unknown] Telequipment D66 1 off [condition unknown] [Telequipment may be worth a 3 out of 6 attempt; Goulds look more suited to breaking up; but you never know] Philips PM3295 1 off [voltage multiplier failed and unobtainium => scrap / parts] SCSI disk enclosures [condition unknown, PSU salvage ?] "Total" Junk - job lot of unservicable PSUs etc If you know of any 3rd parties with a serious use for this sort of kit, suggest they contact me. The last resort for disposition of much of this will be WEEE. Martin

13 years, 7 months

2
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BGA resoldering - flux?

by saquinn624＠aol.com

Alexandre intoned: > DV-series notebook? :) > [...] > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Scott Quinn" <saquinn624 at aol.com> >To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2012 7:45 PM >Subject: BGA resoldering - flux? > > >I have a non-CC HP device >[...] Nope, HP LaserJet p20somethingorother printer. Controller board developed random errors from time to time.

13 years, 7 months

3
3
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BGA resoldering - flux?

by saquinn624＠aol.com

I have a non-CC HP device that has developed issues, probably because of a combination of the lead-free transition and usual Chinese quality. I'm planning on attempting a re-solder by reflowing in an oven (no hot-air rework station yet). It seems as though it would be best to find some way to flux the balls to ensure that the connection is good. I'm not removing the chip, so would a solution of rosin flux diluted in alcohol and dripped onto the BGA work? Any better way, or is it unnecessary? My plan was to ramp it up to 400F in an oven, soak for 5 mins, then cool down to minimize thermal issues. Does this sound good?

13 years, 7 months

2
1
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rebuilding DC100A cartridges?

by chrise＠pobox.com

I've recently restored a DEC TU58 dual-transport tape system but am finding that 30+ year old DC100A cartridges are perhaps past the end of their useful life. The belts in many of them have rotted and broken. There are still some places you can get new cartridges, but they are more than $40 a piece. Has anyone found a way to source and replace the broken belts? I am not interested in preserving the data on the tapes as much as I am interested in just having working tapes... so I don't get ahead by moving a belt from a "good" cartridge to a bad one. I'm interested in trying to repair the bad cartridges. I've seen the writeup here, for the HP 9845 and its DC100As, http://www.hp9845.net/9845/tutorials/savetapes/index.html but that doesn't tell us what to do about broken belts other than to steal them from other cartridges... Chris -- Chris Elmquist

13 years, 7 months

7
13
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Big Alphas (was Re: FS: HP AlphaServer DS15)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 12:05 PM, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote: > On 11/16/2012 11:09 AM, Ethan Dicks wrote: >> Nice. I have a couple of older Alphas (one is *much* larger, with a >> Futurebus+), so I know a little about the line, but not the later >> models. I had no idea HP packaged them up with their hot-swap drives. >> I've only ever seen DEC-badged Alphas in person. > > What FB+ Alphas do you have? One of these... http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=895 4000 AXP Model 710. Got it 10 years ago, fiddled with it when I first got it (it boots to one of two different versions of UNIX on two of the 5 installed SCSI disks) but don't have much reason to use it often. One interesting historical note - it was formerly OSCAR, the card catalog computer for the Ohio State University library system. I picked it up from surplus for $50 because I wanted the included TSZ07 (and I can't ship a TSZ07 for $50!) I put more hours on the tape drive reading old backup tapes than I ever put on the server. It has one CPU and about 1/4 the max amount of memory. -ethan

13 years, 7 months

25
47
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floating the DUT and isolation transformers

by keithvz＠verizon.net

I'm looking to help protect against frying my DUTs, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers during testing. I've been thinking about purchasing an isolation transformers, and I've watched a couple video blog entries on the subject. [1] While I'm pretty careful what I'm probing, I don't want an inadvertent short of the test equipment ground to the positive supply rail off my DUT to blow stuff up. The strategy I intend on using is this: 1. Connect the primary side ground of the isolation transformer to ground with a normal(US) 3-prong plug. 2. Float the DUT by using a 3-prong to 2-prong adapter when plugging into the secondary side of the transformer. 3. Keep the o'scope or LA grounded with a normal 3-prong plug. My DUT for the most part is a commodore amiga that has an external 120v to +12v,-12v, and +5v power supply. I'm not intending on opening supplies, troubleshooting/repairing them or generally touching anything that has live mains power following through it. The signals I'm probing are generally ground-referenced single-ended signals. Does this approach sound reasonable? I'm looking for practical actionable advice. I'm looking at the BK1604A. [2] Thanks, Keith [1] http://www.toddfun.com/2011/04/30/isolation_transformers/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaELqAo4kkQ (which is eevblog #279) [2] http://www.tequipment.net/BK1604A.html#

13 years, 7 months

4
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2nd set of photos, Kerrville warehouse

by sales＠elecplus.com

Still getting used to Picasa, sorry. 2nd set of photos is https://picasaweb.google.com/106111250846948401252/November21201203 Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.2793 / Virus Database: 2629/5908 - Release Date: 11/20/12

13 years, 7 months

2
1
0 0

PDP-10 SAV File Format

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Rob writes: > I've downloaded several ks10 instruction set diagnostics in .SAV file format from trailing-edge.com. > In a 36-bit world, I think I understand the .SAV file format. I can't figure out the format that I've retrieved. > I've even tried loading the .SAV files that I've retrieved into SIMH but SIMH complains about a "Format Error". > Any clues? Did I mung the files copying them from the website? I endeavored a little bit in the late 90's to get a modern FTP server that could move 36 bit executables intact. E.g. True 36-bit "BINARY" as per RFC 959, with the .SAV's arranged nibble-wise to work. Failing at that, I even endeavored to get a RFC for 36-bit file movement via HTTP. Tried to drop hints to Marc Crispin (author of many RFC's). But in the end I punted. What you want to do to get an intact .SAV, is grab the tape image and unpack the tape image on a PDP-10 (or emulated -10). The tape image is the primal object that will not get mangled. Tim.

13 years, 7 months

1
0
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KA630 and Clones from behind the iron curtain

by holm＠freibergnet.de

Just FYI: http://www.robotrontechnik.de/html/forum/thwb/showtopic.php?threadid=4337 There are some Pictures of uVAXII processor boards, and pics of the east German and the Russian uVAX Processors at thew end of that thread. Regards, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Freiberger Stra?e 42, 09600 Obersch?na, USt-Id: DE253710583 www.tsht.de, info at tsht.de, Fax +49 3731 74200, Mobil: 0172 8790 741

13 years, 7 months

6
8
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PDP-10 SAV File Format

by radioengr＠gmail.com

I've downloaded several ks10 instruction set diagnostics in .SAV file format from trailing-edge.com. In a 36-bit world, I think I understand the .SAV file format. I can't figure out the format that I've retrieved. I've even tried loading the .SAV files that I've retrieved into SIMH but SIMH complains about a "Format Error". Any clues? Did I mung the files copying them from the website? Rob.

13 years, 7 months

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Classic computers set ot "music"

by sales＠elecplus.com

http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/blog/vintage-computer-symphony-plays-house -of-the-rising-sun Somebody has an awful lot of free time on their hands! Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.2793 / Virus Database: 2629/5898 - Release Date: 11/16/12

13 years, 7 months

3
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Museum Exhibits Sought

by jwest＠huey.classiccmp.org

Some of you may remember about a year ago I was approached about setting up a short term exhibit at a local museum with a theme of "Computers in Chess". They had a year or so of exhibits already on the schedule at the time. They recently reconnected with me and have asked me to submit a detailed proposal of items to exhibit. Of course, the proposal is due Dec 1st. The venue in question is a "real museum", so you can be assured of world-class facilities related to UV (light exposure), people certified to handle artifacts, environmental controls, security, etc. If any individuals or museums represented here might have ideas for portions of the exhibit and/or have artifacts, displays, etc. for loan I would very much like to see your ideas as quickly as possible. Rest assured that proper shipping, insurance, and compensation for temporary loan of items would be taken care of. The timeframe for the exhibit is May 2013, and the duration of the exhibit would be about 4 months. If your items are chosen to include in the proposal, the museum would contact you directly to arrange the loan and then provide a facillities report directly to the loaning institution or individual. It is very important to me that this exhibit succeeds. If you have any items related to "Computers in Chess" or display ideas, please email me off-list as soon as is possible for consideration. Jay West jwest at classiccmp.org

13 years, 7 months

11
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Google v AltaVista - Re: Big Alphas (was Re: FS: HP AlphaServer DS15)

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Nigel Williams wrote: > On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 12:27:27PM +0100, Jochen Kunz wrote: > > Interesting question: Would google have happened if Altavista wherent > > ruined? > Yes, because they came up with a much better algorithm to determine > relevance of web pages. What I liked about Altavista is if I just remembered a fragment of text on a web page, or in a Usenet post, it could find it. This of course was late 90's. Google with page rank, along with the other search engines doing their own tweak of page rank, gave me the "most relevant to my search page" using their algorithm, and often not the one I wanted. Tim.

13 years, 7 months

2
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discrete transistor computer

by ed.spittles＠gmail.com

On Sun, 18 Nov 2012 22:18, "Dave" <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> wrote: [snip] >> On 18 November 2012 19:14, Ed Spittles <ed.spittles at gmail.com> wrote: >> > On 16/11/2012 08:13, ben wrote: >> >> On 11/16/2012 12:50 AM, Ed Spittles wrote: >> >>>> [conversation about Wireless World articles - a digital computer >> >>>> built from reject germanium transistors] [snip] >> Fantastic! I got in touch with Hector Parr, and he directed >> me to a memoir he's written, and I now have a story: [snip] >> Hector read Alan's book and proceeded to get >> the Maths department and pupils to finance and build a >> machine called DENICE, designed from scratch but with >> inspiration from the book. >> [snip] >> His memoir can be bought at >> > http://www.lulu.com/shop/hector-c-parr/music-maths-and-machines/paperback/p… >> - there's a copy of this too on its way to me. [snip] >> >> (As for the reported cost of ?50 in the late 60's, I'm told a weekly shop > for a couple would be ?2 and a pint of rough > > cider would be 1/9d (that > is, 21 old pence, which were 240 to the pound.) According to >> http://safalra.com/other/historical-uk-inflation-price-conversion/, >> the project would cost ?750 today, although those anecdotal prices suggest > rather more.) > > I think ?750 is probably about right, but comparisions are difficult as > prices havn't increased uniformly. My dad earned around ?22 a week. In my > first part time job at this time I earned 10/- (50p or ?0.50 in current > money) for 4 hours work at our local Woolworths. I seem to recall paying > ?25.00 for a second hand motor bike around that time. I also remember > getting over time for swapping out around 100 tills that did the old style > ?:s:D for new ones that did ?/P one Saturday night All good info! I dimly recall getting 3d pocket money, some time in the late 60's. But I was a mere nipper and pocket money is highly variable. Perhaps a better calibration might come from the job ads in New Scientist:?there's a 1965 issue here http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=F4zFnwoUmHQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepa… and we see a junior technician can get GBP280-520 at the University of Keele, or an 18 year old can get GBP660 by joining the Royal Navy Engineering Service. There are job ads for programming a LEO, but the private sector isn't upfront about salaries. The Tanzanian Treasury would pay you GPB2361 with free passage to program their ICT 1500, but overseas pay won't be a good indication of the value of money. [snip] > If you find any mreo info about Denice I would be really interested... Well, I found a post by ... you! On alt.folklore.computers https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!searchin/alt.folklore.compute… (aka http://goo.gl/ebXiT) I hope to learn a little more from Hector's book when it turns up. > Dave Wade G4UGM > Illegitimi Non Carborundum Cheers Ed (Thanks to Rick Bensene for the correction on the photo:) >> Hector later taught at Barnard Castle School, where he was > photographed in >> 1978 with a different computer: >> http://ww2.durham.gov.uk/dre/pgDre.aspx?ID=DRE10345&PIC=Y >> His memoir can be bought at > > The "computer" in the photo is appears not to be a computer, but a > terminal. > It appears to be a Southwest Technical Products CT-64 terminal. > See: > http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/CT_64/CT_64.htm > > This device was probably connected either to some form of microcomputer > (e.g., Altair, IMSAI, etc.), or potentially some home-built machine, or > was connected via modem to a remote timesharing service, as was common > in schools during the timeframe. > > Rick Bensene

13 years, 7 months

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Inventory Reduction -- IMSAI 8080, ADM3A, S100 stuff

by pjfitzpatrick207＠gmail.com

Hi All, It's time to face the fact that I simply don't have time to do much with my old computer collection and I'm going to slowly get rid of things and free up some space in my lab for "real" (meaning "paying") work. Not sure what the best way to sell this stuff is -- so I'm looking for advice -- or if there's someone on the list who's interested, we should talk. I have an IMSAI 8080, that I built in 1977 or 1978. It has the 22 slot motherboard, 24K RAM (3 x 8K Godbout boards) a serial I/O card, a NorthStar disk controller and SA400 drive with NorthStar BASIC. It all worked when I packed it away 8 or 9 years ago, but I fear the SA400 might have gotten wet in a basement flood a few years back. The computer itself stayed dry. The computer is missing two red and one blue switch handles and has a few scratches in the blue cover, but other than that, it's good. I also have a bunch of Intel multibus cards (for spare parts -- at least a couple of processors and most of the other harder to find chips). Documentation is pretty much complete. I have several floppies (copies of North Star DOS and BASIC), but I make no claim that they're still good. There's also a Lear-Siegler ADM3A terminal -- also in good condition some years ago, but again, it hasn't been powered for eight or nine years. No evidence of screen issues. I have the Maintenance Manual with schematics etc. The assembly manual was lost in the flood. Finally, I have a bunch of parts from a Z80 based system with a CPU card, a video card and a motherboard with built-in keypad and 7 segment displays. I don't know anything about it, really, and some of the boards are kind of grungy, so it's probably best considered spare parts. There is minimal, if any, documentation -- some stuff came with it, but a quick glance says it's mostly CP/M stuff, not hardware docs. I'm not sure what to do. With a bit of work, the IMSAI and terminal could be tested and running (even if I have to track down a new (?) drive, but I'm not sure I have the time to spend on it. Certainly not in the next year or so while I'm over-booked with real work. I think I'd rather sell it now, unless it makes vastly more sense to get it working and then sell it (in which case it might go back in storage for a while). As to selling it, does ebay get decent results? I'd like it to go to someone fairly knowledgeable. Is it reasonably salable in this state? All thoughts appreciated, Pat

13 years, 7 months

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classiccmp status

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

1) Due to the generosity of Richard (with myself making up the balance of the cost), there is now a wildcard SSL certificate on the classiccmp server that can provide encrypted connections for any subdomain hosted under the classiccmp server. For all of you that host websites on the classiccmp server, if you're located on a subdomain of classiccmp.org and wish to take advantage of that let me know and I'll add it to your virtual host configuration. Thanks Richard! 2) We are finally "in process" of moving our datacenter (where the classiccmp server is located). We're not actually moving any machines, we're building new infrastructure at the new datacenter and then migrating services "across the wire" from the old datacenter to the new one. Then the equipment at the old datacenter will (mostly) be scrapped. Generally we don't expect any outages for the classiccmp mailing list, bitsavers repository, and related classiccmp hosted websites, but there will be short off-hours periods of time where no changes should be made to existing content. We'll do our best to make sure any relevant issues are posted here for the list. 3) Just to make sure that newer listmembers are aware, we will gladly host any classic/vintage computer related website at no cost for you. Free disk space, Free bandwidth, etc. We provide this service not just for individuals but companies and institutions. I should point out that we'll host any service for free that is vintage computer related - not just websites. We'll host mailing lists, ftp or rsyncd repositories, whatever you wish. Hosting services is what one of my companies does as it's main line of business, so you can be assured of a world class infrastructure (not just a webserver running in someone's basement or in a corner of their business server room). If you have a vintage computer related website or content and you're tired of paying a monthly fee to have it hosted elsewhere, send me an email directly (off-list) to jwest at classiccmp.org and we'll get things set up for you. Best, Jay West

13 years, 7 months

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icl 1900 emulation

by francois.dion＠gmail.com

Somebody is using the Raspberry Pi to emulate an ICL 1900 mainframe here: http://sw.ccs.bcs.org/CCs/index.html Personally, I'd never heard of this computer... Fran?ois -- solarisdesktop.blogspot.com - raspberry-python.blogspot.com

13 years, 7 months

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Apple ][+ and clones video

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

For those that are interested. I continued making short clips on my collection this weekend. This one was for the Apple II+. There will be no surprises here for members of this group, but some might be interested in the two clones featured towards the end of the video. the URL is http://youtu.be/Tc44R-f07KI Cheers Terry (Tez)

13 years, 7 months

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My Exidy Sorcerer on YouTube

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Sending to this list in case some are interested. http://youtu.be/f-neUEHhtCs Tez

13 years, 7 months

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Interesting IEEE "Computer" article on IAS and von Neumann

by cclist＠sydex.com

Since I didn't see a message to this effect and because I'm very slow on catching up with my reading, there's an interesting article in the November, 2012 issue of IEEE "Computer" titled "Debugging on the Shoulders of Giants: Von Neumann's Programs 65 Years Later" by Barry Fagin and Dale Skrein. Briefly, the two took von Newumann's programming problems described in the 1947 "Planning and Coding Problems for an Electronic Instrument" by Goldstine and von Neumann and ran them on an IAS emulator. Not surprisingly, they discovered a few errors. I say, "not surprisingly" because at the time, the IAS computer wasn't operational. It makes a nice read for a rainy afternoon. --Chuck

13 years, 7 months

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Don Maslin collection status

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> Yes. There were no obviously labeled backups. There are copies of DOS tape backup programs, though :-( > No CD-Rs, or machines with CD-R or tape drives. There were one or two CD-Rs that appear to have been > sent to him with CP/M content. It's pretty frustrating to have gotten this far and not actually have > found the files or any backups which is why I'm hoping they may still be on machines that weren't in > the storage unit. I corresponded with Don extensively in the 1990's. I know he could work with images but I think he felt more comfortable with individual floppy disks. As a result the correspondence was largely by shipping physical disks to him. I tried to encourage him to organize disk images into a directory tree as the "usual method" of working with the collection, but do not feel I made much progress. I have a very strong belief that he largely used CP/M machines to duplicate floppies. He obviously had a PC and used Usenet and E-mail and could even FTP and I know I did exchange images with him like that, but again shipping physical disks was the primary way of moving data to him. I fully expect that his archive is a large collection of 8", 5.25", and 3.5" floppies. I know nearly every unique "original" CP/M (or MP/M or CP/M-86 or whatever) distro I found, I made sure he got the original disk. Tim.

13 years, 7 months

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Unusual PC hardware and EPROMS for sale

by jimpdavis＠gorge.net

I'm cleaning up and have items that may interest some list members. Central point software transcopy deluxe board - $30.00 http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=142538&img=copy2.jpg 100+ AM27C2048 16X128K EPROM 40 pin package NOS - $30/OBO http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=147940&img=eproms.jpg ISA PC-Elevator 386 + 387 co-processor board - $50 http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=148130&img=Pc-elevator.jpg ISA Definicon 68020 coprocessor - $50 http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=148129&img=68020-large.jpg + actual shipping - Paypal friends option. The 2 co-processors were purchased for work in the early 90's. No software located yet. Current condition unknown, stored in anti-static bag since 1992. Thanks, Jim.

13 years, 7 months

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More about Don Maslin?

by barythrin＠gmail.com

I hadn't worked with him and unfortunately only know his name from others speaking of his work. As you heard I believe he had one of the largest/complete collections of cp/m out there. He seemed like the go to guy if there was an image needed. From what I understand there wasn't an online archive of it so he just had the collection in some form offline (probably due to copyrights and liability) but he'd offer the image upon request. I thought Curtis on the vintage-computer forums had also begun creating cp/m images after Don's collection was deemed "lost". I don't recall if he was in touch with the family as well. These are just my passer by views though. I'm sure others here knew him better than my speculations.

13 years, 7 months

3
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"Code like it's 1982!"

by lproven＠gmail.com

https://sites.google.com/site/pauldunn/ SpecBAS is a remake of Sinclair BASIC - it's faster, far more powerful and more colourful than Sinclair BASIC has ever been! SpecBAS incorporates all the features of Sinclair BASIC, but with more: Procedures, with both referenced and normal variable parameters Flow control with DO..LOOP, WHILE..LOOP, DO..UNTIL Better array handling, with variable BASE settings and FOR..EACH support Better string handling with LEFT$, RIGHT$, MID$, REPEAT$ etc Memory banks which can be loaded, saved and utilised to hold a variety of data types Many, many more maths functions, with both radians and degrees support Graphics with 8bpp in any supported resolution with full palette changing, rotation, scaling etc Sound support with MOD/S3M/XM/IT/MP3/VOC/WAV etc Turtle graphics, sprites, tilemaps. And it has less: No more attribute clash no 48k restriction full disk access, so no tapes! No more beeper :) -- Liam Proven ? Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884

13 years, 7 months

2
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discrete transistor computer

by ed.spittles＠gmail.com

> On 14 Nov 2012, at 23:09, Dave Caroline <dave.thearchivist at gmail.com> > wrote: > > > On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 8:36 PM, Dave Caroline > > <dave.thearchivist at gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 8:04 PM, Ed Spittles <ed.spittles at gmail.com> > >> wrote: > >>> On 29 Apr 2012 at 18:46, Richard Smith wrote: > >>> > >>>> This thread reminds me of a computer we built at school from discrete > >>>> transistors. Each transistor was a NOR gate with three resistors on > >>>> the base and a collector resistor. All soldered onto squares of tag > >>>> board. We put a bunch of them together to build a shift register with > >>>> small laps as output. That would be about 1969 or 1970. Does anyone > >>>> remember any more? It must have been a published design somewhere. > >>> > >>> Richard, I think I read the book this project was based on - in the > >>> school > >>> library, mid-to-late 70's. I've been looking for it, but my > >>> recollection > >>> is so vague I haven't found it yet. I think it may have kicked off > >>> with > >>> some physical computing based on wood and ball bearings, but anyhow it > >>> worked up to a full serial CPU. My searches have been based on the > >>> recollection that the author was Wilkinson (but maybe Wilkins, Watson, > >>> Wilson, Watkins, Watkinson, ...) and, of course, it might not even > >>> have > >>> starte with W. > >> > >> How about the magazine wireless World > >> > >> http://www.fano.co.uk/history/WWcomp.html > >> > >> I do believe I have the set of articles here somewhere > > > > Now found and scanned but due to the state of the paper are scanned in > > greyscale > > The article above refers to it continuing into 1968 but the stuff I > > have found ends in December 1967 > > > > pm me for url as the files are large and cannot handle a download swarm. > > > > Dave Caroline > > Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:30:43 +0000 > From: Richard Smith <mole42 at gmail.com> > > Hi, > > I'm interested in what you have found, I'd love it to be an article about > the computer. It's a long time ago and I have only vague memories of > soldering the logic units - some of the older boys got to assemble the > actual machine! > > Best regards, > Richard I'm very excited about Dave's scans, because the circuits look right and the date of 1967 would allow for both Richard's experience of building this at school and for the author to have published as a book. He states the intention of using the design as a teaching tool. Unfortunately there's no named credit in the scanned pages (anything in the contents list Dave?). But we do have "The computer will be on show at the R.S.G.B exhibition." The one-transistor NOR gate and the toggle-flop design are both as I remember them. Likewise the fact that it's bit-serial rings a bell. Dave: can I assume you're happy for me to re-publish some or all of your scans? I want to clip out at least some diagrams and tables. [Does this list allow for attachments or MIME emails?] Fourpence-ha'penny for a diode! Cheers Ed

13 years, 7 months

7
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cctech Digest, Vol 111, Issue 29

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> From: <arcarlini at iee.org> > To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>, <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Cc: > Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2012 22:21:14 -0000 > Subject: RE: cctech Digest, Vol 111, Issue 27 > Michael Thompson [michael.99.thompson at gmail.com]: >> I was part of the team that created the Futurebus+ >> specification. My name is in the front with the other authors. > > Indeed it is. After digging up P896.1 I went and checked Digital Tech > Journal V5 N1, > which includes an article about the DECnis and that does indeed use FB+. > > I've found one Cobra (DEC 4000) document that indicates it uses FB+ too. DEC also published the "Futurebus+ Handbook for Digital Systems", ec-h1363-41. Google finds Postscript versions. I have a printed copy and could send it to Al for scanning. -- Michael Thompson

13 years, 7 months

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FPUIB (Free Pick-Up In Berkeley): Micro reference manuals

by barythrin＠gmail.com

Or if one of them has the ability to scan it (alternatively perhaps there's a scanned version out there already) it might benefit all the requestors.

13 years, 7 months

1
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cctech Digest, Vol 111, Issue 27

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:09:10 -0500 > Subject: Re: FS: HP AlphaServer DS15 > Nice. I have a couple of older Alphas (one is *much* larger, with a > Futurebus+), so I know a little about the line, but not the later > models. I had no idea HP packaged them up with their hot-swap drives. > I've only ever seen DEC-badged Alphas in person. > > -ethan I was part of the team that created the Futurebus+ specification. My name is in the front with the other authors. -- Michael Thompson

13 years, 7 months

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More about Don Maslin?

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Hi Guys, I've been following this thread but don't (or rather didn't) know of Don Maslin. From what's been written it seems he's passed away and was a collector/cataloger of CP/M disks for a whole range of systems. Obviously he's well known to this group. For the sake of us "newcomers" can someone elaborate a little on Don's life and his contribution to community? Terry (Tez)

13 years, 7 months

1
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WinNT 3.51 for Alpha

by aek＠bitsavers.org

was wondering how rare this was http://www.ebay.com/itm/290809458943

13 years, 7 months

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