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

by elson＠pico-systems.com

> Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:32:09 -0600 > From: Kevin Reynolds <tpresence at hotmail.com> > To: <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Subject: RE: Microvax II won't boot, hardware error? > Message-ID: <BLU157-W48E7D604E2D698A86B3819A27F0 at phx.gbl> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > > > > > I do have multiple memory modules, there are two in the chassis. I have spare modules, but they aren't the same, so I am not sure they will work in the system. > > > I did pull and replace the CPU, Memory and VCB02 modules, but the result is the same. The system did work fine recently, so I assume that the CSR/Vectors are ok on the cards. I don't have the manuals for everything, but maybe bitsavers does. > > > I don't have any spare grant continuity cards...will this cause me trouble if I just pull a ramcard out and have nothing in its slot? I seem to remember that you couldn't have an open slot between cards, unless you had a grant card in there... > > > Is there a standard VMS memory test I can run in conversational mode? > It actually runs a simple memory test during the power-up diagnostics, I think maybe it was 7...8 that is the memory diags. They are the ones that takes the longest to run, the others complete mostly in less than a second. You have to know the layout of your backplane to know where grant contnuity cards are required. Old uVax II backplanes have the memory bus on the CD rows for 2 or 4 slots, and need no grant continuity there, but the AB rows are Q-bus, and would need either double-wide Q-bus boards there or grant continuity. Later backplanes didn't have the Q-bus start until after the first couple slots. So, you really need to know what the backplane layout is. Jon

13 years, 8 months

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New PDF magazine for Sinclair ZX-81 fans

by lproven＠gmail.com

http://zx81.republika.pl/monochrome_issue_3_magazine_zx81.pdf It is in the ZX font in block caps, which I found that I got used to remarkably quickly... MONOCHROME MADE WITH PC AND ZX-81 32KB (ZXPAND) FOR LOGO AND TESTING SOFT ZX-81 / TIMEX 1000 / TIMEX 1500 MAGAZINE ISSUE 3, ADDRESS:YERZMYEY at INTERIA.PL, 09.2012 (AUTUMN) MAKING A MAGAZINE CAN BE EASY HI GUYZ. YUPP, YOU WILL SUFFER MY ENGLISH LANGUAGE AGAIN. I MUST ADMIT I NOTICED LATELY THAT PREPARING MAGAZINE ABOUT SOME OLD-SCHOOL PLATFORM CAN BE EASY. :) IT CAN BE - AS LONG AS ENTIRE SCENE/COMMUNITY MAKES NEW STUFF FOR THE GIVEN PLATFORM - THEN PEO- PLE HAVE MATERIAL TO WRITE ABOUT. ;) AND THAT CASE WAS THIS TIME. THERE ARE MANY NEW THINGS FOR ZX81 LAST TIMES (AGAIN!) AND ALL OF THIS THANKS TO YOU ALL! AND IT IS NOT ONLY FOR DEVELOPED CON- FIGURATIONS, BUT ALSO FOR UNEXPANDED ZX81 MACHINES. AS USUAL I WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYBODY WHO SENT ARTICLES FOR THIS ISSUE OF OUR ZX81/T1000/T1500 MAG, AS WELL AS EVERYBODY WHO MAKES NEW SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE FOR THE MACHINE. ;) HMM, MAYBE I SHOULD CHANGE THE SUBTITLE, BECAUSE THOSE THREE MODELS ARE ACTUALLY NOT ENOUGH. ;) PEOPLE FROM BRAZIL ARE ACTIVE TOO AND THEY MADE A VERY INTERESTING ZONX-COMPATIBLE AY-INTERFACE FOR THEIR MICRODIGITAL TK85 CLONE OF ZX81. ;) YOU CAN READ ABOUT IT -- 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, 8 months

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amusing google image search results

by barythrin＠gmail.com

Yeah. It was a cool idea at first but I've mostly stopped trying to use images as a relevant computer search. I'm not sure why it always seems to pull up random peoples pictures or some underdressed women instead of the computer. Unrelated but also interesting (if it works) was the search the web for a matching photo. Sorta neat sometimes with auctions or forum/craigslist posts prior to a sale. ------Original Message------ From: David Griffith Sender: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org To: cctalk at classiccmp.org ReplyTo: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: amusing google image search results Sent: Oct 26, 2012 1:11 PM I noticed that doing a google image search on the string {kaypro 2/84} yields an interesting array of pictures that have nothing to do with Kaypro. For instance, there are oodles of classic synthesizer pics. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

13 years, 8 months

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Microvax II won't boot, hardware error?

by tpresence＠hotmail.com

I have been trying to get a microvax II fully functional over the last few weeks and I seem to have a roadblock. The system used to boot and allow logins, but now after connecting a VCB-02 cable to display, keyboard and mouse, it has become more and more unreliable. It may be possible that some assistance I got from a colleague might have helped to cause this situation, but I think its unlikely. When the system was booting properly, it wouldn't bring up decwindows even when the display, kb, and mouse were attached to the bulkhead cable (bc18z). I was asked to check the WINDOW_SYSTEM variable within sysgen to determine if the current value was anything other than 1. In this case it was 2. He asked me to change the value to 1, and then to write it to current and active, then complete an autoconfigure all. I don't feel this is a factor, because when I boot into conversational mode and set the WINDOW_SYSTEM variable to 0 the system still faults when I perform a @sys$system:startup. In conversational mode, when I launch the startup.com script, the kernel panics as it does when it boots in normal mode. I was hoping to edit the startup.com script (or move it to a safe location and place a partial startup script in its place), but I'm not sure what parts I need to have. If I dont run the startup script, I can't run anal/crash because of protection issues. At first when connected to a display the system would kernel panic during boot. It would boot WITHOUT the display being connected, however, so I continued using it without the display. Unfortunately, now it appears to panic every boot, and I can't get to a prompt to run any diagnostics such as anal/crash. No user based changes were made to the system between boots. The real brain teaser is that it doesn't always crash during the same process load, I have been trying to get a microvax II fully functional over the last few weeks and I seem to have a roadblock. The system used to boot and allow logins, but now after connecting a VCB-02 cable to display, keyboard and mouse, it has become more and more unreliable. The real brain teaser is that it doesn't always crash during the same process load, sometimes its OPCOM, sometimes its STARTUP, sometimes its DECW$STARTUP as it is below. Anyone have any insight on how to proceed? I'm not a very experienced user. A crash example is below: KA630-A.V1.3 Performing normal system tests. 7..6..5..4..3.. Tests completed. >>> boot 2..1..0.. VAX/VMS Version V5.2 Major version id = 1 Minor version id = 0 $! Copyright (c) 1989 Digital Equipment Corporation. All rights reserved. The VAX/VMS system is now executing the system startup procedure. **** FATAL BUG CHECK, VERSION = V5.2 MACHINECHK, Machine check while in kernel mode CRASH CPU: 00 PRIMARY CPU: 00 ACTIVE/AVAILABLE CPU MASKS: 00000001/00000001 CURRENT PROCESS = DECW$STARTUP REGISTER DUMP R0 = 00000000 R1 = 7FF38058 R2 = 00000000 R3 = 00000268 R4 = 00000000 R5 = 00000000 R6 = 00004152 R7 = 00000001 R8 = 0000026C R9 = 00003FDC R10= 000042DC R11= 00006CF0 AP = 7FF380FC FP = 7FF380C0 SP = 803AF1E0 PC = 8028D977 PSL= 04DF0008 KERNEL/INTERRUPT/BOOT STACK 803AF1E8 0000000C 803AF1EC 00000082 803AF1F0 7FF38058 803AF1F4 02000002 803AF1F8 00001534 803AF1FC 03C00001 LOADED IMAGES [SYSMSG]SYSMSG.EXE 800E0600 8010A400 [SYS$LDR]SYSLDR_DYN.EXE 80195200 80196C00 [SYS$LDR]DDIF$RMS_EXTENSION.EXE 80197000 80198200 [SYS$LDR]RECOVERY_UNIT_SERVICES.EXE 80198200 80198E00 [SYS$LDR]RMS.EXE 8010A400 80130200 SYS$NETWORK_SERVICES.EXE 80130C00 80130E00 SYS$TRANSACTION_SERVICES.EXE 80131400 80131600 CPULOA.EXE 80131C00 80133200 LMF$GROUP_TABLE.EXE 80133C00 80134600 SYSLICENSE.EXE 80134A00 80136000 SYSGETSYI.EXE 80136600 80137C00 SYSDEVICE.EXE 80138000 80139600 MESSAGE_ROUTINES.EXE 80139C00 8013C800 EXCEPTION.EXE 8014CC00 80155400 LOGICAL_NAMES.EXE 80155C00 80157600 SECURITY.EXE 80157C00 80159400 LOCKING.EXE 80159A00 8015C200 PAGE_MANAGEMENT.EXE 8015C800 80164800 WORKING_SET_MANAGEMENT.EXE 80165000 80169600 IMAGE_MANAGEMENT.EXE 8016A000 8016CA00 EVENT_FLAGS_AND_ASTS.EXE 8016D000 8016E400 IO_ROUTINES.EXE 8016EA00 80175C00 PROCESS_MANAGEMENT.EXE 80176200 8017E800 ERRORLOG.EXE 8018BC00 8018C600 PRIMITIVE_IO.EXE 8018CC00 8018DC00 SYSTEM_SYNCHRONIZATION_UNI.EXE 8018E000 8018F600 SYSTEM_PRIMITIVES.EXE 8018FC00 80193000 **** STARTING MEMORY DUMP.... ERROR WRITING 127 BLOCK(S), STARTING AT VBN 5471 - STATUS = 00000054

13 years, 8 months

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It lives!

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> Guess what computer I brought back from the dead? > http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/2012/10/it-lives-hint-1.html > I'm thinking somebody on this list has used one and will recognize it. > Just a simple screenshot to start with... It's Applesoft, but says "PRESS RESET" at the top, so.... an Apple II (not plus) with Applesoft language card? Or upgraded with Applesoft ROMs? Personally I like Integer Basic :-) Tim.

13 years, 8 months

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C.B. Falconer 1931-2012

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

Reposted from comp.os.cpm by Charles Richmond I am sorry to report that C.B. "Chuck" Falconer has passed away. He used to be a regular in alt.folklore.computers, comp.os.cpm, and comp.lang.c. He had a long and involved history with computers and programming. He was born in Switzerland on September 13, 1931 and passed away in Damariscotta, Maine on June 4, 2012. I'm sure most everyone here remembers him and his posts to Usenet. One of his many accomplishments was writing an article for an early Dr. Dobbs magazine on implementing floating point on the Intel 8080 microprocessor. His resent resume and the downloadable files from a recent web page of his... can be found at You can a recent resume of his at the ClassicCmp website: http://tinyurl.com/8fudn4o His obituary is at: http://tinyurl.com/8ahongj -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

13 years, 8 months

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Epson QX-10 question

by fjkraan＠xs4all.nl

> you put in a disk, you get a cursor, but that`s it. Puter won`t give > disk back. Do I have to take it apart? The SD-321 drives have a lock mechanism that should release the disk when the button is in the 'out' position. But it doesn't as the old grease keeps the lock in place. I have observed this with both the QX10 and the TF-20 which both use the 1/3 height SD-321 disk drives. So far I managed to get my disks back by prying the lock upwards (or was it downwards?) with my fingers (not very pleasant work). Everytime I plan to fix the drive by replacing the gunked grease, but so far it didn't happen. Greetings & success, Fred Jan

13 years, 8 months

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Blue screen of Basic

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

and not playing Traveller? ------------------------------ On Wed, Oct 24, 2012 7:37 PM PDT Zane H. Healy wrote: >At 5:44 PM -0400 10/24/12, Sridhar Ayengar wrote: >>Zane H. Healy wrote: >>I've always preferred the following. The key part is how I end line 10 >>with the spaces and the semicolon. >> >>10 PRINT "HELLO, WORLD "; >>20 GOTO 10 >> >>The first program I ever wrote in BASIC was (drumroll, please): >> >>10 GOTO 10 >> >>Peace... Sridhar > >LOL! Well I guess it has the advantage of being 'bug free'. :-) I >find myself tempted to turn on my Commodore 64 and try it. > >BTW, I'm quite happy to report that as part of the project to redo my >darkroom, I've set my Commodore 64 back up (yes, in the darkroom >area). In fact part of the time I was supposed to be working on the >Darkroom last Saturday I was actually playing a game on the C64. :-) > >Zane > > > >-- >| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | >| healyzh at aracnet.com | OpenVMS Enthusiast | >| | Photographer | >+----------------------------------+----------------------------+ >| My flickr Photostream | >| http://www.flickr.com/photos/33848088 at N03/ | >| My Photography Website | >| http://www.zanesphotography.com | >

13 years, 8 months

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Nasa Technical Report - An operating system for the LINC computer

by spedraja＠ono.com

Searching in the NASA Technical Reports Server I've located this document: An operating system for the LINC computer Url: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660006438_1966006438… It appears to contain the source code of a BLINK compiler. Regards Sergio

13 years, 8 months

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QBUS/UNIBUS transceivers (again)

by fraveydank＠gmail.com

Hey all, Since I'm stuck in a hotel for the IEEE LCN conference, I had nothing better to do than look up lots and lots of datasheets in search for an ideal driver/receiver pair for modern DEC bus circuits. Warning: below is a lengthy missive. Ignore it if the subject line doesn't turn you on (so to speak). The driver is generally the easy part; there are quite a few FETs out there that ought to do the job acceptably. You need a total (driver + receiver) capacitance of 9.35 pf, which is generally the tallest order, but it's easy enough to limit the slew rate of the pulldown by putting a series resistor in line with the gate. I believe Peter Wallace recommended the FDV301N, which seems as good as any; put one for the driver and one at the source as a gate for a group of them, and you should have a pretty effective transceiver. It might take a bit of space, and you'll eat a lot in assembly if you're not doing it yourself, but as Dave McGuire pointed out, if your main logic is contained in a micro and/or CPLD/FPGA, you're going to have plenty of space. And for SOT-23 packages, you can probably get close enough to the density of the original (quad-gate) DIP devices. The FDV301N claims a Coss of 6 pf, though I haven't done my homework to think about how the other parasitics affect the input capacitance. The receiver is a little harder. In the National (now re-branded by TI, which is hilarious considering the part was obsolete and long out of production by the time TI acquired them) app note on the DS3662, they indicate that they essentially just did the obvious thing and used a comparator for the input. Doing so with discrete comparators is possible, but generally costly in terms of both money and board space, and I've found parametric searches of comparators to be a bit tricky, depending on where you look. At least looking through what Digi-Key offers (and they're pretty much the best parametric search I know), there are few quad units fast enough which don't break the bank. The MAX9108 is a good candidate, though (quad gate for $4, or $2 in quantity 100, which you'd certainly be looking at for more than one or two units). It's a TSSOP-14 package, which isn't exactly tiny, but it's smaller than a DIP in most respects. It has a dual-element cousin, the MAX9107, which comes in a SOT23-8 package; I believe you could achieve higher density that way, though you'd end up spending more per gate. The input bias current is in the sub-uA range, but there's no input capacitance listed, which bothers me a bit. The outputs are TTL-compatible, which is generally compatible with 3.3v logic as well; it has a typical Voh of slightly more than 3.3v, but at 100uA source current, which is well within the handling range of the built- in protection diodes of most FPGAs (and it's close enough that it probably wouldn't trip them). Another good candidate is the NE521, which has some very nice logical gating inputs (which would save some external components if you're using bidirectional lines on the FPGA side). It's also a dual part, but unfortunately only available as small as SOIC-14, which doesn't provide for a lot of density (it is available in DIP, though, which should make some people happy). Its propagation delay is 12 ns instead of the MAX910x's 25, though both are still comfortably below the 32 required for DEC buses. Bias current is a max of 40 uA over temperature range (DEC max for the receiver unit load is 80 uA). It also does not provide an input capacitance; I suppose it's common with comparators? This one is also not as cheap per gate; even in quantity 100, it's still almost $4 each ($2 per gate), which probably offsets the convenience of having the enables built in to the part for most people (especially considering the larger package size). In any case, the solution doesn't seem as infeasible as I previously thought. Anyone want to go in on a few test boards together to split the costs? It seems like it would be prudent to make a few short (2 inches, maybe) dual-width boards to test input and output capacitance/waveforms before we try making whole boards, and if someone has a UNIBUS machine they're willing (and able) to test out on, that would be handy since I definitely do not. Also, are there major flaws in the above analysis? Am I totally smoking crack? The app note I referenced is here: http://www.ti.com/lit/an/snla139/snla139.pdf There's another interesting related one here: http://www.ti.com/lit/an/snla134/snla134.pdf - Dave

13 years, 8 months

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Looking for Roland LAPC-I & Creative CT1320C

by skaye2005＠gmail.com

I'm a newbie here so I apologize in advance if I am not doing this right! Anyways, I am a collector of vintage soundcards and I'm looking for a Creative Sound Blaster CT1320A or CT1320C as well as a Roland LAPC-I ISA sound card. Thanks!! Steve On 10/25/2012 2:30 AM, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Send cctalk mailing list submissions to > cctalk at classiccmp.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > cctalk-request at classiccmp.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > cctalk-owner at classiccmp.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of cctalk digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Blue screen of Basic (Zane H. Healy) > 2. Re: VMS newbie with sick VAXstation (mc68010) > 3. Re: Superbrain schematics (Anthony Wallach) > 4. Re: pdp 14/30 chassis on ebay (Jochen Kunz) > 5. Re: Another Apple 1 for sale? (barythrin at gmail.com) > 6. Re: Blue screen of Basic (Sridhar Ayengar) > 7. Re: Surplus DE9F to 8P8C adapters available (Philip Pemberton) > 8. Re: PERQ monitor problem (was HP 9845 power supply > diagnostics) (Tony Duell) > 9. Re: Blue screen of Basic (Chris Tofu) > 10. Re: Surplus DE9F to 8P8C adapters available (Pete Turnbull) > 11. Re: Surplus DE9F to 8P8C adapters available (Tothwolf) > 12. Re: Blue screen of Basic (Francois Dion) > 13. Re: Blue screen of Basic (Zane H. Healy) > 14. QBUS/UNIBUS transceivers (again) (David Riley) > 15. Re: Blue screen of Basic (Chris Tofu) > 16. Re: QBUS/UNIBUS transceivers (again) (Dave McGuire) > 17. Re: QBUS/UNIBUS transceivers (again) (Guy Sotomayor) > 18. Re: QBUS/UNIBUS transceivers (again) (Dave McGuire) > 19. Re: Another Apple 1 for sale? (mc68010) > 20. Microvax II won't boot, hardware error? (Kevin Reynolds) > 21. Re: This is a VT180 right ? (Dave McGuire) > 22. Re: Surplus DE9F to 8P8C adapters available (Pete Turnbull) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:35:09 -0700 > From: "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh at aracnet.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Blue screen of Basic > Message-ID: <p0624081accadd679caef(a)[192.168.1.199]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ; format="flowed" > > I've always preferred the following. The key > part is how I end line 10 with the spaces and the > semicolon. > > 10 PRINT "HELLO, WORLD "; > 20 GOTO 10 > > Zane > > > > At 10:56 AM -0400 10/24/12, Francois Dion wrote: >> On the last guessing thread (it lives! about the >> CES apple clone), William said: >> "Make it PRINT "HELLO" and then GOTO 10 for me >> one more time, won't you please?" >> >> And the C64 fans were also left in want, so I present to you the Blue >> Screen Of Basic: >> >> http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/2012/10/blue-screen-of-basic.html >> >> I'm sure quite a few people already know what it is... The follow up >> post wont be a clue but simply a detailed post on this modern retro >> computer. >> >> >> Fran?ois >> >> -- >> solarisdesktop.blogspot.com - raspberry-python.blogspot.com >

13 years, 8 months

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An 80386 CPU S-100 Board

by monahan＠vitasoft.org

In case you missed it on one of the web postings I would like to mention that Andrew Lynch and I have just completed a prototype of a new 80386 Master/Slave CPU S-100 bus board. This exciting board is capable of reaching up to12MHz in an S-100 system with an active terminated bus. This is an ongoing project. It utilizes the 16 bit mode of the 80386 to address the 16MG of RAM the S-100 bus is capable of addressing. A second daughter board system with an overhead ribbon cable connector is planned to for daughter board(s) to enlarge the RAM space up to the 4GB the CPU is capable of addressing (using high density static and DRAM chips). If you would like to read about this board please look here:- http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/80386%20Board/80386%20CPU%20Boa rd.htm It is too early to accept "orders" for this board, but if you would like to be kept in the loop as this board evolves keep an eye on the above page. John Monahan Ph.D e-mail: <mailto:monahan at vitasoft.org> monahan at vitasoft.org Text: <mailto:monahan at txt.att.net> monahan at txt.att.net

13 years, 8 months

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Another Apple 1 for sale?

by david＠classiccomputing.com

> Did I miss something or is there another Apple 1 for sale > > http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2221860/Rare-working-Apple-1… Yep, and this one works, so maybe it will sell, considering the last one >from Christie's did not - http://www.classiccomputing.com/CC/Blog/Entries/2012/10/9_Another_Apple_1_A… This German auction house is seriously marketing the auction too. There's video of the machine working and they put an ascii graphic of Woz on the little monitor! http://www.breker.com/english/index.htm Best, David Greelish - Computer Historian, Author, Speaker, Blogger & Podcaster - Founder of the Atlanta Historical Computing Society Producer of the Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 1.0 - 2/9/13 http://about.me/davidgreelish

13 years, 8 months

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Blue screen of Basic

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

mine was in Atari 400 BASIC - 10 REM membrane keyboards are for the birds ------------------------------ On Wed, Oct 24, 2012 2:44 PM PDT Sridhar Ayengar wrote: >Zane H. Healy wrote: >> I've always preferred the following. The key part is how I end line 10 >> with the spaces and the semicolon. >> >> 10 PRINT "HELLO, WORLD "; >> 20 GOTO 10 > >The first program I ever wrote in BASIC was (drumroll, please): > >10 GOTO 10 > >Peace... Sridhar >

13 years, 8 months

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PERQ monitor problem (was HP 9845 power supply diagnostics)

by colineby＠isallthat.com

My recollection is it was both rolling and skewed. I need to get it in the queue for our CRT doctor to look at. He's got a never ending stream of Cubs to deal with supporting our BBC classroom systems. I have to nudge the PERQs monitor in among them, as well as an HP 2645 scan card that's puzzling me. I may have mentioned (?) I took the expedient measure of swapping the base from one monitor for the other to address the cable sheathing issue we had. This leave us the backup monitor on the injured list waiting for the doc. --Colin ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk wrote: >> >> Tony and Rik, >> >> Can you guys just sanity check something? A colleague was scratching >> his head with this, so it seemed sensible to ask. >> >> On the mains input cable to the power supply, for 240 v external >> supply, what's the test voltage we should see across each pair? > >There are several versios of the HP9845. The 9845A is very differnet to >the 9845B. The 9845B anmd 9845C (colour) are similar apart from the >monitor section (which includes a lot of digitial circuitry, jsut to keep >you on your toes...) > >I beelvie the PSU come in sevearl version too, and that 9845Bs wit hthe >'high speed language processor' have a different PSU to normal ones. > >You can get my schematics for the 9845B from the Australian site, but of >course they only cover the machine I've got -- a 9845B with high speed >language processoar and enhanced monochrome nonitor. > >With that in mid... > >The easiest place to check the mains wiring is on the barrier stip of >faston terminals on the side of the PSU casing. There are 4 connections >there, iot may look like more, but theuy common together internally. All >the wires of the same colour are linked. > >Numbering the tags with 1 at the top and 4 at the bottom, and assuming the >votlage selector is set to 230V: > >Between 2 (White/.Red/Geey) and 3 (Grey) you should see full mains voltage > >Between 1 (White/Green/Grey) and 2 (white/Red/Grey) you should see half >mains voltage > >Btween 3 (Grey) and 4 (white/Yellow/Grey) you should, again, see half >mains voltage. > >The cooling fans are 120V AC units. The left hand one is conencted >between tags 1 and 2. The right hand one is conencted between tages 3 and >4. The internal circuitry of the PSU include asmall mains transformer >used ot power the chopper cotnrol circuitry. With the selector set ot >230V, the priomary of this transformer also acts as an autotransformwer >to split the maisn in ahlf for the fans. > >Are the fans running? If so, then the mains input is almost certainly >correct. > >This power supply is complicated -- very. The one I have is on 5 circuit >boards, in contains 17 ICs and has 4 chopepr transistors. Take care! > > >> >> BTW Tony, thanks again for your advice on the PERQ. It's been a working >> display for a couple of weeks now. I still on the lookout for an >> engaging app to demo. At the moment its just running Spy. > >What was the problem with the monitor? > >-tony >

13 years, 8 months

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fine pitch soldering

by elson＠pico-systems.com

> From: David Riley <fraveydank at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: An 80386 CPU S-100 Board > > I suppose. I've had terrible luck with bridging, but I never > really kept at it long enough to get much good at soldering > fine-pitch parts. My wife got me a pretty decent iron as a > birthday present recently, though (I picked a good one!), so > I may be doing a bit more in the not-too-distant future (more > so if my QBUS board ever gets off the ground, because I don't > really feel like paying for assembly). > I have been doing fine-pitch soldering for a long time. I do stuff as fine as 0.4mm lead pitch, which is a bit of a pain. The bulk of stuff I now make with a pick and place machine and a reflow oven (converted toaster oven with thermocouple ramp-and-soak controller). But, I still do a lot of prototypes and rework by hand. The MOST important thing is a stereo zoom microscope with a long working distance. A working distance of 2-3" is necessary to get your hands and a soldering iron under it. A ring light can be made from a ring of PC board material that fits around the snout of the microscope. Carve a ring in the copper of the PCB so it becomes two concentric rings. Use a 12 V DC wall-wart power supply and 8 while LEDs, with about 1 K Ohm series resistors. Make a piece of cardboard with a 1/2" hole in it, use this as a mask to isolate the light from one LED at a time and bend the LEDs so they all converge about where the viewing area is. This mask is for alignment only, store it somewhere as you will occasionally bump the LEDs and have to realign them. Solder braid can be used to remove excess solder bridging the leads, which WILL happen frequently. For big, high-density chips, this is my procedure: First, put a tiny dab of solder on 2 corner pads. Align the chip with the pads, and solder the corners that have the extra solder. Now, use a piece of solid wire to apply GC brand (or equivalent) liquid flux across the leads. Just dip the end of the wire into the bottle and then wipe it across the leads. If the board has enough solder plating, you may not need to add any solder, just use the iron to reflow the pad solder onto the leads. I generally add a little speck of solder every 4th or 5th lead as I go down the rows. I use .015" solder, the thinnest I seem to be able to get nowadays. You used to be able to get .010" fairly easily. I've probably done about a thousand of these now using this technique. It is probably best to wash off the flux residue later with solvent. Jon

13 years, 8 months

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VMS newbie with sick VAXstation

by spectre＠floodgap.com

So I finally got the needed MMJ serial cables and got my VAXstation 3100 setup using the Solbourne S3000 as a serial console. The boot monitor comes up just fine in cu, but the machine remains at the boot monitor and does not start VMS. TEST 50 says ?41 DEVASSIGN, TEST A SHOW DEV shows an ESA0, which I assume is the 10b2 Ethernet because it shows a MAC address, and a DKA0, which is a 1.05GB drive. So, I do BOOT DKA0 and it appears to start (transcribed from my Android, sorry for typos): %SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT Mapping the SYSDUMP.DMP on the System Disk %SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT SYSDUMP.DMP on System Disk successfully mapped %SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT Mapping PAGEFILE.SYS on the System Disk %SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT SAVEDUMP parameter not set to protect the PAGEFILE.SYS OpenVMS (TM) VAX Version V7.2 Major version id = 1 Minor versio [cut] %DECnet-I-LOADED, network base image loaded, version = 05.0D.00 %DECnet-W-NOOPEN, could not open SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]NET$CONFIG.DAT **** Fatal BUG CHECK, version = V7.2 KRNLSTAKNV, Kernal stack [cut] (system dump follows, I can type this in if you want it) Being a total novice to VMS system administration, what should I be looking at? -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- MOVIE IDEA: The E-mail Signature Who Loved Me ------------------------------

13 years, 8 months

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Superbrain schematics

by adwallach＠gmail.com

Hi Andrew. I have a SuperBrain QD that I had up in the loft. Unfortunately the display no longer works as the graphite core that fits into a donut coil attached to the side of the Video case has snapped in two places. Though the display appears to work no characters are visible. It does boot and if the dir command is entered it is apparent that it is attempting to display the output as the cursor moves across and down the screen. I have tried looking for spares via Google but no luck. Hopefully knowing what the gizmo should do I could fix or replace it. Thus if you have still have the schematic package available in digital or hard copy, I would be grateful if you could let me know. I am retired and wrote business applications in the 1981's and am curious to revisit them to see how things have changed since the heady days of CPM 2.2. I realise that your post goes back to 1998 but it would be great to receive a reply. Regards Anthony

13 years, 8 months

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cctalk Digest, Vol 110, Issue 59

by saquinn624＠aol.com

Message: 13 Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 14:19:19 -0700 From: Glen Slick <glen.slick at gmail.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: VMS newbie with sick VAXstation Message-ID: <CAM2UOw+PkTqm2cGiuWoVOKkPuLcBw1LkSyyBEFVcSfCqOWsVyQ at mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On Oct 23, 2012 12:14 PM, "Cameron Kaiser" <spectre at floodgap.com> wrote: > > This is an M76. It doesn't need the terminator, does it? (It does not > have one.) > My 3100 M76 came with the external SCSI terminator. I'll have to take a look at it and see if there is a part number on it. -Glen The /76 has dual SCSI busses, so the presence or absence of the external terminator is not critical for proper operation of the internal devices, provided that the internal bus line is properly terminated. Another vote in favor of hacking in a CD-ROM drive and booting from the disks. Unfortunately, VAX-VMS doesn't have the "Minnie-VMS" environment that Alpha does.

13 years, 8 months

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Removing mineral deposits from circuitboards

by derschjo＠gmail.com

So, here's a fun one: See the picture(s) here: http://yahozna.dyndns.org/scratch/gridcase/ This is in a Gridcase 3+ I picked up last week off eBay for what seemed at the time to be a pretty great price. Heard some stuff rattling around inside so I opened it up before doing anything else and what I seem to have is a few large mineral deposits on the main circuit board. It's pretty well localized,and aside from a completely dissolved drive support post and a few rusted screws there really isn't all that much rust(amazingly). And thankfully the corrosion that's present has almost entirely avoided any custom ASICs or other parts on board. Everything else in the system aside from the bad patches in the pictures is clean (although the whole thing smells like a dank basement, geeI wonder why) and the underside is almost corrosion free so there's a non-zero chance I could get this running again. Except I have no idea how to go about removing the buildup of... crud... on this thing. It's pretty solid, I've soaked it for a few minutes in water and chiseled at it (gently) with the tip of an xacto knife and I got some of it off that way but it's very slow goingand I'm afraid of removing what's left of whatever's underneath it before I can identify it. Any tips for removing this stuff? (Also, as an aside -- my mails to this list are clearly making it to the list, but I never see my own posts/responses anymore... any ideas?) Thanks, Josh

13 years, 8 months

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Interesting ePay find...

by jon＠jonworld.com

I was browsing on e-bay and found these TI-1500 systems. I have no link to the seller. I never heard of these before. http://www.ebay.com/itm/TI-1500-unix-computers-/251167418839 After a lot of Google I found this: http://www.?home.?unix-?ag.?org/?engel/?ti/? (which isn't working) The software that's available for it is still quite pricey: http://www.csisoft.com/applications/ti.php I don't see a NetBSD port for it, either. -- -Jon Jonathan Katz, Indianapolis, IN.

13 years, 8 months

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HP 9845 power supply diagnostics

by colineby＠isallthat.com

Josh, My apologies! I got tangled up with other things and dropped the ball. Do nag me if I seem to go away. Software -- I'm afraid the PERQ software is in the end of the archive they are still cataloguing. So I tried my luck a bit. I came across a games disk which appeared to have a copy of an asteroid clone on it, but the disk didn't appear to be readable. I've imaged it, but the system threw every kind of data error when attempting to read it. Attempting to execute the file I *did* managed to extract hung the PERQ up good and proper. I'm reasonably confident the drive is reading well and this is genuinely a diskette issue. I've also imaged a set of POS based utilities, but all those disks appeared quite badly damaged (one of them was actually clear in sections). I don't think much will come from a forensic examination of the raw image. But by happenstance, we have two copies of that set, and I've not tried the second set yet (about 8 diskettes). Depending on cirqs this weekend I might get an hour or two to slave over a hot PERQ backing off files and validating media. Nag me again Sunday, if I fail to report back! --Colin Josh Dersch <derschjo at gmail.com> wrote: >On Mon, Oct 22, 2012 at 11:43 PM, Colin Eby <colineby at isallthat.com> wrote: > >> >> >> BTW Tony, thanks again for your advice on the PERQ. It's been a working >> display for a couple of weeks now. I still on the lookout for an engaging >> app to demo. At the moment its just running Spy. >> > >Were you able to archive any of the software you got with the PERQ? Any >chance of making it available if so? Always looking for more stuff to run >on my PERQ (and PERQemu) :). > >Thanks, >Josh > > > >> -- Colin >> >

13 years, 8 months

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Skipware level, late 2012

by lproven＠gmail.com

I just collected a new PC carcase this morning which was advertised on my local Freegle group (i.e., Freecycle by another name) last night. Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme 6850, 3GHz, 8GB DDR2 RAM. I fitted my own disks and graphics card. Apparently, that is the level of specification some people are throwing out now. Quite remarkable. It's jolly nice and very fast, though! -- 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, 8 months

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Another Apple 1 for sale?

by christian_liendo＠yahoo.com

Did I miss something or is there another Apple 1 for sale http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2221860/Rare-working-Apple-1…

13 years, 8 months

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VMS newbie with sick VAXstation

by technobug＠comcast.net

On Mon, 22 Oct 2012 19:56:00 -0700 (PDT), Cameron Kaiser <spectre at floodgap.com> wrote: >>> OpenVMS (TM) VAX Version V7.2 Major version id = 1 Minor versio [cut] >>> %DECnet-I-LOADED, network base image loaded, version = 05.0D.00 >>> >>> %DECnet-W-NOOPEN, could not open SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]NET$CONFIG.DAT >> >> Bizarre, even missing DECnet/OSI configs (which is what that error points >> to) shouldn't cause a crash. >> >> Time for a conversational boot. At the dead sergeant prompt (>>>) do B/1 >> >> You'll get a SYSBOOT> prompt. Type 'set startup_p1 "min"' then C to >> continue. This will at least get you running. Once logged in do 'product >> show product' and give us the output. DECnet is obviously not happy. > > So I did this. First time through, it appeared to boot happily and asked > for the date and time, let me log in, and then crashed, so I never got to > the point where I could PRODUCT SHOW PRODUCT. > > Next and all subsequent times through, it crashes at the same point above > without even getting to a Username: prompt, MIN or conversational boot or > otherwise. > > Ideas, or reach for the OpenVMS CD? Is there an easy way to use the SCSI > port on the VAXstation 3100 (I hear it has a different pinout)? Are you assuming the hardware is operating properly? I went through this a while back with one of my VAX Station 3520s. I could sometimes boot to a usable point, but then crash - normally, it wouldn't make it that far. I put a known good drive in and attempted to load a new version of VMS. It would get partially through and then crash. Turned out that a +5 volt supply had nearly 0.5 V of ripple. Changing a few caps in the power supply fixed things up... ->CRC

13 years, 8 months

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Cray-Cyber... down ?

by spedraja＠gmail.com

As far as I can check it, the systems in Cray-Cyber.org are down *all the time* (with the exception of the 'login' front-end). Somebody know what happens with this initiative ? Regards SPc.

13 years, 8 months

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Blog: Scanning Documents with Limited Colors for Optical Character Recognition

by legalize＠xmission.com

<http://computergraphicsmuseum.org/2012/10/23/scanning-documents-with-limite…> Please post comments on the blog, thanks. -- "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, 8 months

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Flossie makes the news ICT 1301

by dave.thearchivist＠gmail.com

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-20031487 Dave Caroline

13 years, 8 months

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Our Museum Need a special help..

by curador＠museudocomputador.com.br

we need to buy 15 000 3 1/2 Inch Floppy Disk Drive new in box for our museum here in Brazil. could someone help us? with some donation, any amount helps. We also appreciate, as our museum needs to reopen. Please send by bank of Brazil (Banco do Brasil) agency: 2445-7 account : 8975-3 Associa??o Cultural dos Amigos ad Informatica . our direction if sending by mail: Museu do Computador - Roma Street, 75 - Itapecerica da Serra -SP 06855-410 Brazil Thanks -- *E-mail do facebook: jose.c.valle at facebook.com * *Cel CLARO: 8874-0100* *Cel VIVO: 9562-0211* *Cel: TIM : 5142-5559* *SKYPE: JOSECVALLE* *Twitter: @curadordomuseu* * *

13 years, 8 months

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IBM DOS/VSE Listing in eBay

by spedraja＠ono.com

Not sure if this would be interesting for someone (Herculeans specially)... http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-DOS-VSE-Supervisor-Assembly-Listing-Rel-3-0-PTF… SPc.

13 years, 8 months

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VMS newbie with sick VAXstation

by saquinn624＠aol.com

Message: 26 Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2012 06:31:59 -0700 (PDT) From: Cameron Kaiser <spectre at floodgap.com> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: VMS newbie with sick VAXstation Message-ID: <201210221331.q9MDVxS117432808 at floodgap.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII > Wish I'd known you were after MMJ stuff, could've made you some! Postage > from the UK wouldn't have been prohibitive :) > >> > %SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT Mapping the SYSDUMP.DMP on the System Disk >> > %SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT SYSDUMP.DMP on System Disk successfully mapped >> > %SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT Mapping PAGEFILE.SYS on the System Disk >> > %SYSBOOT-I-SYSBOOT SAVEDUMP parameter not set to protect the PAGEFILE.SYS >> > OpenVMS (TM) VAX Version V7.2 Major version id = 1 Minor versio [cut] >> > %DECnet-I-LOADED, network base image loaded, version = 05.0D.00 >> > >> > %DECnet-W-NOOPEN, could not open SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]NET$CONFIG.DAT >> >> Bizarre, even missing DECnet/OSI configs (which is what that error points >> to) shouldn't cause a crash. >> >> Time for a conversational boot. At the dead sergeant prompt (>>>) do B/1 >> >> You'll get a SYSBOOT> prompt. Type 'set startup_p1 "min"' then C to >> continue. This will at least get you running. Once logged in do 'product >> show product' and give us the output. DECnet is obviously not happy. > > >Thanks for the tips. I'll give this a spin this evening after work. >I was puzzling over the bits I needed from the URL Jonathan provided. Couldn't this be a symptom of a redefined SYS$SYSROOT: pointing somewhere else other than DKA0: (such as an external expansion pack)? In any case, if your VS isn't running a new version of UCX or MultiNet/TCPware go ahead and get TCPware or Multinet, as the version of UCX that came with 7.2 would bring the machine to a crawl under light network load.

13 years, 8 months

1
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unibus to modern disk interface? (tangent on MFM drives)

by js＠cimmeri.com

Subject: Re: unibus to modern disk interface? From: allison <ajp166 at verizon.net> Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2012 21:17:57 -0400 ... Me I planed ahead and kept all the small drives that people didn't want but still ran from older MFM and IDE to SCSI. That and old boards even if flagged dead.. they can be fixed or used for parts. Allison Hey, A. How are you keeping the bearings in your MFM drives lubed (if you are)? Most of my MFM drives still work, but the bearings are drying out. As the motors work harder to turn, the motor controllers run hotter and will burn out there first unless a way can be found to apply lube to the motors. Lou Ernst and I have been mulling over this issue. - John S.

13 years, 8 months

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Anyone want an intel overdrive chip?

by wackyvorlon＠me.com

I have an Intel Overdrive DX4ODP75 kicking around. Anyone interested? Free to good home:)

13 years, 8 months

1
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Prestel and Viewdata

by robert＠irrelevant.com

In a random fit of rash behaviour, I've copied over and "made live" the wiki version of my viewdata history/preservation/memories website, running alongside and in parallel to the existing version. This means that if any of you want to contribute, then rather than hoping I'll get around to adding stuff at some indeterminate future date, you can pile right in there! There's still lots of pages to convert over, and I need to sort out my custom plugins that manage the documents and viewdata pages themselves, but that's why the old version is still there... at least this way, I might feel guilty about not having updated for over a year and get on and do it ... So, if anybody wants to help, get in there! (Wiki) http://www.viewdata.org.uk/introduction (old) http://www.viewdata.org.uk/index.php?cat=10_Home&page=10_Welcome Rob.

13 years, 8 months

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S: AS/400 connection software for classic Apple Macintosh

by poc＠pocnet.net

Hello, I'm searching for certain software to make AS/400 and Classic Macs (late System 6 to 7.6.1) "talk" together properly. It's no problem to get this with current OS X but the old software has gone and I can't find this, let's call it abandonware, on the net. I'm running an 9401/170 attached to a token ring where also a Mac IIfx with a TokenRing NB 4/16-Board is attached. Plus a PowerMac 7500, also with a Token Ring Board. The whole stuff is running very smooothly but I'm lacking direct access to SNA and/or tn5250 via TCP/IP. According to an old Apple Book (Data communications and networks) there have been many solutions available (in no particular order): - Incarnations of sna?ps 5250 (gateway and client), - MacRUMBA Gateway (I got hold on the client a few months ago), - TokenAxcess, - MacMainframe (gateway and workstation), - asc5250 (Comm Toolbox module collection for TCP/IP), - MacMidrange, - Possibly MacIRMA (gateway and workstation), - MacTwin (with Twinax Card! Without it's nearly useless). - Netware for SAA 3.x, since I'm running NW 3.12 in a virtual machine. Any of these are of interest. A big plus (but not a must-have) would be if the particular software is complete with original disks, manual(s), and package. I also heard of a PTF for the AS/400 which provides AppleTalk service to the machine. Users can then connect to the AS/400 via Mac RUMBA, sna.ps client or such. One source of information said, this was a looong time ago and that PTF is expected to apply to OS/400 V3 or older, while I'm running V4R5. More specific information on this topic would be very welcome! Can't find anything useful on the net for that. Thank you in advance for your time and help. Regards, PoC

13 years, 8 months

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ISA PC & misc gear for sale

by jimpdavis＠gorge.net

ISA PC-Elevator 386 + 387 co-processor board - $40 http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=148130&img=Pc-elevator.jpg ISA Digiboard Digichannel PC/8i 8 port serial - $30.00 http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=148816&img=digi-if.jpg http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=148815&img=digi-board.jpg 1987 High-end ISA VGA card TMS 34010-40 NEC - $25.00 http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=148222&img=video-1.jpg 1987 High-end ISA VGA card TMS 34010-40 NumberNine - $30.00 http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=148224&img=video-2.jpg Tektronix 4662 plotter - $100 / OBO http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=148769&img=Front.jpg Hayes VSM 9600B full length ISA - Modem collector? - $15.00 http://alkaspace.com/is.php?i=148817&img=hayes-9600.jpg + shipping - Paypal friends option. Reply to jimpdavis at gmail.com - Jim.

13 years, 8 months

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cctalk Digest, Vol 110, Issue 52

by elson＠pico-systems.com

> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:13:53 +0100 (BST) > From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Microscopes > Message-ID: <m1TPJtH-000J4cC at p850ug1> > Content-Type: text/plain > > > Soem years ago a freidn of mine said he and an old microscope that he > didn;'t want. I was expecting at best a Russian thing (which, to be fair, > are quite reasoanble). I was amazed when he gave me a genuine Zeiss > microscope with 3 objectives in the turret. It needed a minor electrical > repair to the lamp PSU, but that was hardly a problem. > > It's not stereo, thoug. It does have binocular eyepieces, but with a beam > splitter from one objective. SO it's less tiring to use than a single > eyepiece model, but you don't get 3D images. It's stil la very nice > instruemnt > 3D really isn't all that important, most of the time. But, the longer working distance is the BIG thing on most of the stereo microscopes, especially for soldering and other electronic tweaking. Also, most of these have a really wide field of view and lower magnification than traditional microscopes. Jon

13 years, 8 months

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It lives!

by francois.dion＠gmail.com

I thought I had sent this to cctalk, but apparently not. There are now 3 clues up, because I posted about it on tuesday, one hint a day. Guess what computer I brought back from the dead? http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/2012/10/it-lives-hint-1.html I'm thinking somebody on this list has used one and will recognize it. Just a simple screenshot to start with... Francois -- solarisdesktop.blogspot.com - raspberry-python.blogspot.com

13 years, 8 months

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Free 2) HP 2345a terimal servers. Kent, Wa. USA

by g-wright＠att.net

Free, Pick up in Kent WA. - Jerry

13 years, 8 months

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Kickstarter project for a new run of P112 kits

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

Since I ran out of P112 kits last year, I've been asked multiple times to produce more. The critical thing in doing this is financing the project. So, I've set up a Kickstarter.com project to get things going. There are some differences in the kits this time round. The big one is that I'm no longer offering complete kits. Sorting thousands of tiny parts into ziplock bags was a big hassle. Instead the kit will contain a PCB with surface-mount parts soldered on, a boot ROM, serial port pigtails, and two CDs of documentation and software. I have prepared a shared project on Mouser for most of the remaining parts. The serial chips are obtained >from Digikey. This way you can just de-select what you already have, or order something different -- like if you want machined sockets instead of dual-wipes. Go to http://661.org/p112 to read about the P112 and find the link to Kickstarter. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

13 years, 8 months

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socketed 84-pin PLCC logic analyzer connection

by keithvz＠verizon.net

I've got the need to connect a logic analyzer to a socketed 84-pin PLCC IC. The test clips I'm familiar with won't attach properly because they expect a soldered chip instead. Besides removing the socket and resoldering the IC directly to the PCB and using a traditional test clip (which are affordable), are there any other plug-and-play solutions? I've found these http://www.emulation.com/catalog/off-the-shelf_solutions/logic_analyzer-sco… http://www.emulation.com/cgi-cfm/insert_quantity.cfm?part_number=BC4-84-PCC… ($308) and http://www.logicalsys.com/painfo-vpasp-vb.asp?adapter=pa84-pp ($185 US) which seem pretty darn cool, but also pretty darn expensive. The PCB is almost 30 years old, for whatever that's worth. Thanks, Keith

13 years, 8 months

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Classilla 9.3.1

by spectre＠floodgap.com

For those of you who like giving your Mac OS 8.6 or 9 machines a little exercise, I'm making an interim release of Classilla with the security rollup about 1/3rd done: http://www.classilla.org/ -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- On the Internet, everyone suspects you're a dog. -- Kristen Kelleher -------

13 years, 8 months

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Quadra 700 buttons?

by fraveydank＠gmail.com

Hey folks, I recently brought a Quadra 700 back to life that I got non-working for a decent price off eBay. The resuscitation is an exciting story in and of itself: - First, the power supply was dead, which I traced to a bad transformer for the +5v trickle supply, which also operates the rest of the power supply's electronics; not being able to repair it or determine the winding ratio for a replacement, I had to get another power supply for more than I paid for the machine itself. If I ever find out the details of the transformer, I may resurrect the supply as a spare; the folks formerly of Bomarc have reverse-engineered schematics that I may avail myself of. - The PRAM battery had exploded, causing untold amounts of damage to everything beneath it. One SIMM was rendered non-functional, the interrupt and reset buttons are completely useless (they alternate between inoperable and intermittently on, neither of which is useful) and the acid ate away pin 14 (the power leg) of a 74F04 as well as the pad beneath it, which made for infuriatingly erratic behavior until I figured it out and fixed it with a white wire. Anyway, I have a very happy machine now, but I need to replace a few components. I've found a perfect replacement for the battery holder (which was eaten away by the acid, as I discussed in a previous email), but I'm having a hard time finding replacements for the right-angle buttons used for the reset and interrupt buttons. They're not strictly necessary, but since I plan on using the machine for NetBSD driver development among other things, they'd be very nice to have. So does anyone happen to know where to find the BOM for the Q700 (highly unlikely), know what kind of buttons were used for the Q700 (also probably the IIci and IIcx, somewhat less unlikely), or know a good way to find buttons with precise mechanical dimensions? I'd be greatly indebted. I realize this is a long shot, but if there's anywhere that might have it, it would be here (also Erik's VCF, which I'll also check). - Dave

13 years, 8 months

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Back from the dead - Timex Sinclair ZX80/81

by mcquiggi＠me.com

Hmmm that's what it looks like to me. Kevin Sent from my iPad

13 years, 8 months

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Anyone want a DEC Letterwriter 100? Or a DEREP?

by binarydinosaurs＠gmail.com

2 actually, currently in Cambs UK and heading for the scrap pile along with the DEREP. It's rare to see them with complete keyboards! -- adrian/witchy Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk

13 years, 8 months

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Interesting analog data system

by auringer＠tds.net

I ran across this auction that I thought someone here might be interested in. It is a paper punch for edge notched data storage research cards. The system is described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge-notched_card http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261115271862&ssPageName=…

13 years, 8 months

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System for sale on Epay, Listed as Northstar Horizon is actually Ferguson board

by jws＠jwsss.com

This is an auction for a system on Ebay which might be interesting. It is listed as a "Northstar Horizon" but has what appears to be a single board system marked Ferguson. That would probably not be from Northstar. Also it is built up with 8" floppies which is even less related to Northstar. it appears he got a pile for a Northstar system with the Ferguson homebuilt which is in an Incoterm box which holds the floppies. There is a listing for a bigboard on bitsavers which is probably for this system. http://www.ebay.com/itm/400301360595 Price may actually be something if anyone feels a burning need for a Ferguson board, but I think its high for an ordinary Horizon. Too bad there is a missing Horizon.

13 years, 8 months

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PDP1 Music / Record sold

by elson＠pico-systems.com

> From: jim s <jws at jwsss.com> > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: PDP1 Music / Record sold > Message-ID: <507F50BC.30102 at jwsss.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > The fellow who posted the record some time back which was titled to be > PDP1 music reposted the record for $299 and sold it. > > the reason to note anything about it is that I had emailed him about > taking a capture of it and passing it along before selling the record > > The ebay listing up right now has a track you can download as long as it > stays up. > > http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170923504018 > > Here is the link to the song as well. > > http://ampnoise.com/mp3/MusicOnThePDP-1X_Pinafore.mp3 > > I thought it was nice of him to do that, as many people who list things > on ebay would have bothered. I would say that it was just to sell the > record, but I think the rarity of it to record collectors and a lower > price is why it sold. > > Man, what a blast from the past! A friend of mine did some work like this on a PDP-5, about 1970, at Washington U. I think the PDP-1 does a little better, but it was fairly comparable. Jon

13 years, 8 months

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fine pitch soldering

by elson＠pico-systems.com

M From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: fine pitch soldering Message-ID: <508063F0.2080503 at neurotica.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On 10/18/2012 12:21 PM, Jon Elson wrote: > > I have been doing fine-pitch soldering for a long time. I do stuff as > > fine as > > 0.4mm lead pitch, which is a bit of a pain. The bulk of stuff I now make > > with a pick and place machine and a reflow oven (converted toaster oven > > with thermocouple ramp-and-soak controller). > What type of pick-and-place system do you have? I'm looking to move in that direction. I got a VERY good deal on a Philips CSM-84. This model can hold up to about 55 8-mm feeders (capacity reduced for larger sizes) and has a vibratory feeder option and a large chip alignment station. For small chips and passives it aligns with mechanical jaws on the head. it has 3 heads, I have 2 set up with the jaws and one with no jaws to use the separate aligner. These machines are also available with vision, mine does not have that feature. It is a BIG machine, 5 x 7 feet, and needs compressed air and a fair amount of power. it is single-phase, however. It weighs about 1600 Lbs. Note that with all these machines, the feeders will probably cost more than the used machine. The CSM-84 is a VERY flexible machine, and easy to program. (The vision system needs a LOT more programming than the placement section, but once you have programmed all the parts you use, the vision doesn't need much attention.) So, I do everything from 0805 up to 30mm FPGAs with it. It is marginal with .65mm pitch parts, but does great with SO chips and all passives. If you look at other machines, check carefully about the range of parts they handle, and the consumables. Some of these machines eat several vacuum nozzles at $100 a pop every shift, and guarantee a broken nozzle on any mis-pick or tumbled part, not to mention actual crashes. The CSM is VERY robust in comparison, uses steel nozzles and can survive most crashes without much damage. Having the experience with mine, I might have been better off to get a machine with vision instead of the jaw alignment, but it all depends on the kind of stuff you do. The later machines are generally marked with a /// after the model to indicate a later computer and brushless servo motors. There is the CSM-84 VZ which has vision and a Z axis servo, and the VANE which has vision and the auto nozzle exchanger. Not so sure about the ANE system, it uses different nozzles, and they look more fragile. I have made a big nozzle for FPGAs with a lathe and mill for my machine. I paid about $3600 for my machine including shipping and about 50 feeders. It cost me more than that to have a double door installed on my basement to get it inside! Obviously, I had a motivated seller who needed to get this machine off his floor to make room for new machines already in transit. Every day I communicated with him, the deal got sweeter. First, just the machine, then some feeders, then lots more feeders (all he had) then a box of spare parts. One thing is to get a machine that is highly regarded by the community (there are some REAL lemons out there) and be sure to get the manuals including the service manuals, because something WILL go wrong on these older machines. They ARE complex, mine has over 50 sensors and about 25 actuators. Jon cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Send cctalk mailing list submissions to > cctalk at classiccmp.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > cctalk-request at classiccmp.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > cctalk-owner at classiccmp.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of cctalk digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: fine pitch soldering (Chuck Guzis) > 2. Re: It lives! (Liam Proven) > 3. Re: It lives! (Ethan Dicks) > 4. Re: It lives! (David Riley) > 5. Re: It lives! (barythrin at gmail.com) > 6. Re: It lives! (Shoppa, Tim) > 7. Re: It lives! (John Many Jars) > 8. Re: PDP1 Music / Record sold (barythrin at gmail.com) > 9. Re: It lives! (David Brownlee) > 10. RE: Skipware level, late 2012 (John Foust) > 11. Re: fine pitch soldering (Dave McGuire) > 12. Re: Dead LCD monitor? - replace $2 worth of caps - Re: > Skipware level, late 2012 (John Foust) > 13. Re: UCSD-P for the WD-900 ? (Eric Smith) > 14. Re: fine pitch soldering (Dave McGuire) > 15. Re: fine pitch soldering (Ryan Brooks) > 16. Re: fine pitch soldering (Chuck Guzis) > 17. Re: fine pitch soldering (Dave McGuire) > 18. Re: Desoldering Pump (Paul Anderson) > 19. Re: An 80386 CPU S-100 Board (Tony Duell) > 20. Re: An 80386 CPU S-100 Board (Paul Anderson) > 21. Re: Anyone want a DEC Letterwriter 100? Or a DEREP? (Dave McGuire) > 22. Re: Anyone want a DEC Letterwriter 100? Or a DEREP? (Dave McGuire) > 23. Re: An 80386 CPU S-100 Board (Ethan Dicks) > 24. Re: Anyone want a DEC Letterwriter 100? Or a DEREP? (ben) > 25. Re: Anyone want a DEC Letterwriter 100? Or a DEREP? (Ethan Dicks) > 26. Re: An 80386 CPU S-100 Board (mc68010) > 27. Re: Dead LCD monitor? - replace $2 worth of caps - Re: > Skipware level, late 2012 (Toby Thain) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 10:26:32 -0700 > From: Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: fine pitch soldering > Message-ID: <50803BC8.3080004 at sydex.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > On 10/18/2012 09:21 AM, Jon Elson wrote: > > >> The MOST important thing is a >> stereo zoom microscope with a long working distance. A working >> distance of 2-3" is necessary to get your hands and a soldering iron >> under it. A ring light can be made from a ring of PC board material >> that fits around the snout of the microscope. Carve a ring in the >> copper of the PCB so it becomes two concentric rings. Use a 12 V >> DC wall-wart power supply and 8 while LEDs, with about 1 K Ohm >> series resistors. >> > > Agree on the stereo microscope (dissection microscope). I find that the > CCFL ring lights made for cars and motorcycles are cheap and give much > more intense and even (shadowless) light. Typical diameter is about 100 > mm and all seem to come with mounting clips or tabs. You can also get > them in LED, but I find the light from a white CCFL much easier on the > eyes. Cheap inverters are available to run the CCFL lamps. I use the > microscope for initial positioning and completed inspection and prefer > to use a binocular loupe during the actual soldering. > > >> Solder braid can be used to remove excess solder bridging the >> leads, which WILL happen frequently. For big, high-density >> chips, this is my procedure: First, put a tiny dab of solder >> on 2 corner pads. Align the chip with the pads, and solder >> the corners that have the extra solder. >> > > For large TQFPs, I anchor the chip body to the PCB with a dab of clear > nail polish, using the microscope for accurate positioning. Once the > polish has set, I proceed with the corner soldering. I find that I can > get extremely good registration this way. It's not fast, but it's > nearly foolproof. > > FWIW, > Chuck > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:34:58 +0100 > From: Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: It lives! > Message-ID: > <CAMTenCHLomP=yvz6sQsA0VAc4FzqKoJHd4+in98H9GKstg=OYQ at mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 > > On 18 October 2012 15:41, Francois Dion <francois.dion at gmail.com> wrote: > >> I thought I had sent this to cctalk, but apparently not. There are now >> 3 clues up, because I posted about it on tuesday, one hint a day. >> >> >> Guess what computer I brought back from the dead? >> >> http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/2012/10/it-lives-hint-1.html >> >> I'm thinking somebody on this list has used one and will recognize it. >> Just a simple screenshot to start with... >> > > I was going to guess Apple II or that era from the BASIC prompt of ] > but not given the later hints... > >

13 years, 8 months

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cctalk Digest, Vol 110, Issue 49

by elson＠pico-systems.com

cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Agree on the stereo microscope (dissection microscope). I find that the > CCFL ring lights made for cars and motorcycles are cheap and give much > more intense and even (shadowless) light. Yes, they are almost perfect. BUT, they are usually too big in diameter. By custom making one with LEDs, you can fit it to be completely snug to the microscope body and sit up against the sides of the microscope, so it is as far out of the way as possible. We got a ringlight with a new Chinese scope at work, but it hung below the bottom of the scope and was over an inch wider than the scope itself, so I replaced it with my own LED ring light. > For large TQFPs, I anchor the chip body to the PCB with a dab of clear > nail polish, using the microscope for accurate positioning. Once the > polish has set, I proceed with the corner soldering. I find that I can > get extremely good registration this way. It's not fast, but it's > nearly foolproof. > I'm doing 0.4mm pitch chips, and have excellent alignment, also, with my method. Whatever works for you. Jon

13 years, 8 months

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