I finally got around to reading that note. My principal reponse is that it got so
far down into details that I couldn't see the larger picture any more.
Going back to the original IBM 801 work, the RISC concept is very simple: to make
the overall system as fast as possible; it did this by making the CPU cycle time
as short as possible. This results in a CPU that is not as easy to work with;
therefore the compiler has to be 'smarter'. In other words, engineering complexity
is moved from the hardware to the software.
This is an an acceptable tradeoff; the complexity in the software is not a recurring
cost, whereas extra gates add cost to every machine produced. Moreover, while the
more complex compiler may be more time-consuming to run, that cost is only paid
once, whereas the efficiency of the binary is felt every time the program is run.
Focusing on what features a CPU does or does not have in some ways misses the
whole point of RISC: it's not about what specific features the CPU has, in
isolation; it's about looking at the system as a whole, all the way up through
the compilers, to maximize performance.
I recall Tom Knight laying out the implication for CPU design very simply, in a
seminar I took back when the idea had just come out: look at the CPU design, and
find the longest signal path; this will set the lower limit on the clock time.
Redesign to remove that path; since the capability that needed it will inevitably be
used only part of the time, the execution increase caused by losing it will be
outweighed by the speedup of all the other instructions.
The other thing one needs to remember, talking about RISC, is that it's now
been almost 40 years since the concept was devised (an eternity in the computing
field), and the technology environment has changed drastically since then. So
RISC has changed and adapted as that environment changed.
Nowadays, when people throw a billion transistors at each CPU, the picture is
somewhat different. Register widows were just the first instance of this sort of
thing; we have this unused area of the chip, what can we put there?
>> On 6/15/19 3:40 PM, ben via cctalk wrote:
>> CISC design is now needed to handle the 'extended features'. ... RISC came
>> along only because Compilers could only generate SIMPLE instructions, that
>> matched the RISC format.
No; compilers had been created that could use the more complex CISC instructions of,
say, a VAX. RISC post-dated a lot of those developments, and had an entirely
different point.
> From: Chuck Guzis
> For what it's worth, the number of instructions in the ISA does not define
> RISC, but rather that the instructions execute quickly. Some RISC
> implementations have large instruction sets.
Right; what's reduced is the complexity of the instructions, which leads to
the speedup which is the goal, not the number of them.
In fact, a RISC CPU may actually have more instructions, e.g. separate ones
for different cases, with the compiler being given the responsibility of
picking the right one, instead of the CPU figuring it out as it goes.
> RISC does carry a penalty in that you're executing more instructions to get
> something done, so your code space is larger; but, you hopefully have them scheduled
> such that the whole task runs faster.
This in another aspect, which I've mentioned before, behind the rise of RISC, which
is the changing size and speed of main memory, relative to the CPU. Simpler
instructions are faster, but a given task will need more of them. This is acceptable
if the memory can supply them fast enough. If the memory bandwidth is less, more
complex instructions make sense, to get more out of the limited bandwidth.
Also, if memory is of limited capacity, or expensive, then more complex instructions
make sense, since more can be done with a fixed amount of memory. (The PDP-11 still
scores very high in code density.) This too, however, has been overtaken by the
march of technology.
Still, the basic idea of RISC still applies; make the CPU clock rate as fast as
possible by making the instructions simple, and let software deal with the resulting
issues.
Noel
There is an elderly gent in Bedford, MA that was a DEC dealer back in the
day. The following inventory is what he has posted on a service I belong to.
He is very deaf, and he can't hear me over the phone. He is open 9-5 M-F.
Someone needs to go and dig. I don't think he knows where everything is
anymore, and I don't think he can reach high places or lift medium-heavy
things.
Not affiliated with seller, etc.
Charlie Burgess
119A Great Road
Bedford, MA 01730-2720
781-275-6800
qeiinc at verizon.net
0132727
03-211265-0
06-888E7620
06-98805420
06-98826020
06141
10-09397-01
10-13102-00
10028002
10028102
10058100
10104
101066
10183/10184
109831-00L
11-10364
11/23-AW
11/34A-HC
11/730
11/750-CA
11/84-AC
1110
11130-DC
11150-CH
11213
11214
11592-906-1
117838-A
12-04403-01
12-09403-01
12-10152-0
12-11196-02
12-11477
12-11519
12-11563
12-11580-01
12-11581-00
12-11583-00
12-11583-01
12-12157-00
12-12199-00
12-12904-00
12-13097-00
12-13185-00
12-13186-00
12-13369-00
12-13686-00
12-14333-JO
12-14360-00
12-14614-02
12-15050-00
12-15292-00
12-1529600A
12-15297-00
12-15336-00
12-15336-08
12-15336-11
12-15360-00
12-15394-00
12-15558-00
12-15633-00
12-15663-00
12-16166-00
12-16166-02
12-16308-00
12-16391
12-16552
12-16827-00
12-17431-00
12-17431-01
12-17474-00
12-17606
12-18320
12-18416-00
12-18633-00
12-19245
12-19245-00
12-19245-01
12-19266
12-20267-01
12-22196-01
12-22196-02
12-22271-01
12-22707-01
12-23196-01
12-23607-04
12-23609-04
12-23609-11
12-23609-15
12-23609-19
12-23609-21
12-24701-10
12-26339-01
12-27591-01
12-28258-01
12-28508-01
12-29258-01
12-29635-01
12-30552-01
12-32022-01
12-32728-01
12-33626-01
12-35173-01
12-35759-01
12-39921-02
12-45246-03
120119-01
123
1351922
13C27A-30
1412DA
16-12256-0
16-12398
16-12497-01
16-1389700B
16-14110-00
16-17186-01
16-19001-01
1616-010
1632TTL
1664ATTL
17-000-82-0
17-00004-00
17-00079-00
17-0008202D
17-00083-06
17-00083-10
17-00083-37
17-00083-49
17-00087-00
17-00100-00
17-00107-01
17-00193-00
17-00198-15
17-00233
17-00254-00
17-00254-01
17-00277-04
17-00280-00
17-00282-00
17-00282-01
17-00282-03
17-00284-00
17-00285-00
17-00285-02
17-00286
Cindy Croxton
Electronics Plus
1613 Water Street
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-370-3239 cell
sales at elecplus.com
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
Hello fellow collectors,
I have this Fairy YL-23 IC tester / programmer with ISA bus.
http://matthieu.benoit.free.fr/Fairy_YL-23_Eprom_Programmer_resources_page.…
The problem: I have no documentation and no software for it.
Can anyone help me getting PC software for it?
Thanks in advance!Regards, Roland Huisman
The system consists of:
1) a 19" rack-mountable CPU chassis
2) a 19" rack-mountable floppy-disk drive (and bootable RT-11 floppy-disks)
3) Zenith Z-29-A RS232 terminal
The boards included are:
M8186 KDF11-A 11/23 CPU
????? 256KB parity RAM
????? DSD-440 floppy disk interface
????? bus grant continuity card
M8028 DLV11-F Async interface
M8012 BDV11 Bus terminator, bootstrap and diagnostic ROMs
M8016 KPV11 Power fail, realtime clock, (termination)
Also included are several 8" floppy disks with RT/11 and other system
software.
If interested, send me a message.
Thanks,
Scott
When I worked for Burroughs/Unisys, I was one of the last people working
on software for B1000. I think I was the sole user of the B1965 at their
Lake Forest (Orange County) California office in '88-89. I was
surrounded in my cubicle by all of the disk packs for that system. My
favorite systems while at Burroughs was the B1000s.
One of those type of disk packs is up on eBay right now and I am trying
to decide whether to buy it. It is $60 plus another $40 for shipping. Is
that too much? I almost never see Burroughs stuff, so, if I want
Burroughs stuff, I should just get it, right?
alan
> From: Alan Perry
> a chance to see and touch something that I haven't seen in decades
> that was once a big part of my life.
I know exactly what you mean. PDP-11's were a huge part of my professional
life:
-11/20: the first computer I actually used, in high school
-11/45: the computer on which I took my first programming course in
the CS Dept (amazingly, my group later traded the next computer
for that very computer, years later)
-11/40: the first computer that was 'mine', in the sense that I
controlled it
-11/70: the computer I did a lot of my early Unix learning/work on
-11/03: my first packet switch code ran on one of these
-11/23: the most widespread machine that my early packet switches ran
on
-11/73: the timesharing machine at the company that productized my
packet switch code
I'm very fortunate to now have a lot of PDP-11's in my collection.
(Including an /04 and a /34, machines I never used BITD.) I had no contact
with PDP-11's for many years, but only a few years ago someone here gave
me an -11/84 (if I drove to Wisconsin to get it :-); I stopped off at my
in-law's house to overnight on the way back with it, and they later told
my wife it was the happiest they'd ever seen me!
Noel
> From: Liam Proven
> Now, my tablet and iPhone and Android phones need *at least* 3 or 4
> apps updating every day. ... The OS needs to be replaced every month
> or two to fix all the flaws in it, and that's a gigabyte or so of
> storage.
> I am *furious* about this.
> ...
> I had a better *phone* and a better *PDA* 20 years ago.
Great rant.
I myself much prefer my Windows98 machines to my Windows 10 laptop, which
I had to buy because i) many Web sites won't work without the latest and
greatest browser (in many cases because of the nitwitted craze for not
just HTTPS, but the latest and greatest security option for it - but let
me not get derailed into that rant into lemming-like stupidity), and those
are only available for the latest and greated bloatware OS.
Noel
I am looking for documentation of the NUCEXT CMS macro/function in IBM's
VM/SP, VM/HPO, VM/XA or VM/ESA from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s.
SC19-6209-0 "VM/SP CMS Command and Macro Reference" from September 1980
available on bitsavers.org does not contain any reference to NUCEXT,
apparantly because it had not been developed at that time. The next
version of this manual that I can find on bitsavers is SC19-6209-4
"VM/SP CMS Command Reference Release 5" from December 1986, however by
that time, the macros section had been moved into a different manual
("VM/SP CMS Macro Reference" I think, which I have not been able to locate
anywhere). Other manuals also reference "VM/SP Data Areas and Control Block
Logic, Volume 2" which I have not been able to find any versions of either.
I am aware of z/VM manuals available on the IBM website which contain some
information about NUCEXT but I would prefer to use the older manuals if at
all possible as internals tend to be documented in far more detail in the
older manuals and the newer manuals contain a lot of unwanted complexity
due to the need to document newer features that I don't have any interest
in, plus the replacement and obsolesence of features I am interested in.
Does anyone have a CMS command and Macro Reference, CMS Macro Reference or
Data Areas and Control Block Logic, Volume 2 manual from the mid to 1980s
to the mid 1990s who would be willing to scan information about NUCEXT for
me?
Regards,
Peter Coghlan.
I'm sorting out a bunch of SIMMS and would like to identify the type of
system they are from and the size. Does anyone know of any published lists
that could help me ID them?
So far I have found:
MS02
MS02-AA
54-19813-AX
Clearpoint D52/8MB
Clearpoint 32MB
Kingston KTV-5000/32
Kingston KTV GX/32 8Mx72
Micro Tech MB 360436M-7
Micro Tech MT18CD472F6-6X 20-47083D7
MT8D132G-6
54-24829-DA
54-20352-01
54-21139-CL
54-21225
54-20410-01
54-20116
Thanks, Paul
> From: Allison
>> "The console emulator Octal Debugging Technique (ODT)is a portion of
>> the processor microcode ... The console ODT implemented on the LSI-11/23,
>> PDP-11/23 and PDP-11/23-PLUS is identical."
> However LSI-11/23 whatever that is, typo?
No, that's exactly what's in the manual I cited; as you say, though:
> That always had me during my yeas at DEC going which one are you
> talking about, as every thing had at least three names (never
> minding numbers) and one was usually ambiguous or a nonspecific
> family name.
DEC's naming of systems always drove me wild. To me, the worst one is the
lack of a name for a system including a KDJ11-A; as someone here pointed
out, the name "-11/73" is properly only applied to systems with a KDJ11-B
and no PMI memory. As I understand it, DEC apparently didn't sell
KDJ11-A's in complete, new, systems (it was just an upgrade board), so no
number was ever allocated.
Noel
Hello,
maybe there's a short between RXD and TXD, or possibly the GND is
unconnected...
This could cause an echo on the cable, and while the console is echoing
too, this give an infinite repetition, only ended by the limited console
buffer size...
Andrea
I have been working on it for the past week, and I would say the I have my
system 95% functional as of now.
On Sun, Jun 9, 2019 at 9:05 AM Noel Chiappa <jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
> > unlike my M8017, it will actually respond to my inputs on my
> > terminal. I'm pretty sure I may just have the card configured
> > incorrectly, but I'm not going to worry about that for now.
>
> If the M8017 is actually broken, I would be more than happy to trade a
> working, tested DLV11-J (useful for TU58 emulation :-) for it, as I'd
> like to have a DLV11-E for my collection.
>
Taking a closer look at it, it appears that I did not have my connector
built correctly. It seems to work now.
I got the tu58em software running on my laptop, interfected to my system
via the DLV11-J I have. I was able to load XXDP and RT-11 more or less
without a hitch. Typing in the bootstrap code is a real pain to do every
time I want to boot the system, so I really need to get that MXV11-A
working. While RT-11 boots, I am seeing some oddities that don't show up
under a normal 11/03 emulated under SIMH.
- Upon startup, the DIR command will refuse to list the directory, and
just return a "?MON-F-Trap to 4 020142" error. This issue can be corrected
by running V2.1 BASIC or another application, which then after the DIR
command will work normally.
- Also upon startup, sometimes normal RT-11 commands such as DATE and D
will return ?KMON-F-File not found DK:*.SAV. This has like a 50% chance of
happening.
- Saving a file under K52 where the file length has been shortened will
also return a ?MON-F-Trap error, and refuse to save the file correctly.
This only happens sometimes.
I am betting (or hoping) that this is just an issue with the TU58 emulator
I am using, and not something wrong with the CPU. I have parts on the way
for a RX02 emulator, so hopefully that will fix some of the issues I have
having (and make it faster too).
On top of that, the RUN/HALT and LTC lights on the front panel still do not
function, even thought the switches clearly work and the computer responds
accordingly. I am betting this is an issue with on the board somewhere, but
as it does not impede functionality I am fine with it for now.
One last question, besides TU58 and RX02, are there any other good storage
options for a Q/Q 16 bit backplane PDP-11. I know there are SCSI hard drive
boards for the 18 and 22 bit backplanes, but it would be nice if there was
one that could work with my 16 bit H11A.
Well, this project has been a lot of fun. Thank you for all the help you
guys have gave me. Gavin.
One of the projects I've been working on recently is adding floating point accelerator emulation to the SIMH 3B2/400 emulator. I _think_ I've done reasonably well, in that the simulator passes all of the accelerator diagnostics that AT&T wrote for their own product, but frankly these tests are rather cursory and don't validate much.
I'd like to compile a set of IEEE-754 tests on the 3B2. Unfortunately, the only compiler I have ready access to on the 3B2 is AT&T's pre-ANSI C compiler, so not a lot of modern C is going to work.
Does anyone know of a period-appropriate set of IEEE-754 tests that could be compiled on SVR3?
-Seth
--
Seth Morabito
Poulsbo, WA
web at loomcom.com
Sure, I will list out the hardware I'm planning on using.
IMS A645 Z-80 Processor
IMS A631 serial/parallel I/O
IMS A930 Floppy controller
IMS A465 64K RAM
IMS 1100 Winchester Hard disk controller
IMS 862 User Processor (Z80)
IMS 1081 User Processor (186)
IMS 1120 Tape Controller
Earth Computers ARCnet board
--------------------------------------------
On Tue, 6/11/19, Bill Degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
Subject: Re: TurboDOS for S-100, IMS or L/F Technologies
To: "Jonathan Haddox" <new_castle_j at yahoo.com>, "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2019, 6:47 PM
On Tue, Jun 11,
2019, 12:55 PM Jonathan Haddox via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
I'm
restoring an IMS - L/F Technologies S-100 Bus computer.?
I've got all the pieces except for the Operating
System.? I'm hoping that someone here may have a disk
stashed away.? From the literature I have read, I would
need TurboDOS version 1.40a or 1.41c from IMS or L/F
Technologies.? I've seen TurboDOS 1.3 versions out in
the wild from IMS, but the 1.4 version was greatly enhanced
and offered better compatibility with my specific
hardware.? I'd be much obliged if anyone can help.
Thanks,
Jonathan
new_castle_j? at yahoo
Can you detail the associated
hardware (drive controller, drive model, CPU,
etc.)
I?m in the process of restoring a Sun 2/120 and realized that the unit I have doesn?t have the back plate and cables for monitor and keyboard/mouse.
I have spare parts to trade for 2/120 ( including a sun 2/120 keyboard cable I found today. ) or can do $$
Earl
Sent from my iPhone
If I read the archive properly, there is a copy of TurboDos 1.4x in Don
Maslins archives on Bitsaver. The files included are:
Name Format Description
143GEN ZIP TD 1.43 DO/GEN/PAR files for ADC
143KERN ZIP TD 1.43 Kernel files
143REL ZIP TD 1.43 REL files for ADC
143MAC ZIP TD 1.43 MAC files for ADC
143DOC ZIP TD 1.43 FILES - incl ADC
Hope this helps!
Marvin
> I'm restoring an IMS - L/F Technologies S-100 Bus computer. I've got all the pieces except for the Operating System. I'm hoping that someone here may have a disk stashed away. From the literature I have read, I would need TurboDOS version 1.40a or 1.41c from IMS or L/F Technologies. I've seen TurboDOS 1.3 versions out in the wild from IMS, but the 1.4 version was greatly enhanced and offered better compatibility with my specific hardware. I'd be much obliged if anyone can help.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jonathan
> new_castle_j at yahoo
AIUI the owner is now in a nursing home.
Thanks to Justin Scott and a group of enthusiasts, rather than sending
all the stock to the scrappers, the store is occasionally re-opening
in an effort to sell as much as possible to collectors.
It's here:
https://www.computerresetdallas.com/contactus.htm
Address:
9525 Skillman St, Dallas, TX 75243
There's a FB group here -- an event will be posted whenever it's open:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/627459117730981/
(Last Saturday, next Saturday, for example.)
This is the GoFundMe for the owner:
https://www.gofundme.com/7uagmw-elderly-couple-in-need-of-help
There was a walkthrough on Youtube but it's gone. :-(
There's something for everyone. PDP, Vax, all manner of PCs including
PCJr, IBM portables, PS/2s, some complete and boxed, Amigas, NeXT,
TRS-80, terminals, all sorts.
The owner and his wife are now in sheltered accommodation and won't be
able to return. This is a last-ditch volunteer effort to stop all the
vast warehouse's contents being recycled and to make some money for
them to support them in their last years.
--
Liam Proven - Profile: https://about.me/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk - Google Mail/Hangouts/Plus: lproven at gmail.com
Twitter/Facebook/Flickr: lproven - Skype/LinkedIn: liamproven
UK: +44 7939-087884 - ?R (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053
Folks;
I have a BA23 VAX of unknown provenance, which tonight I moved from the project backlog to the workbench. It comes up and passes selftest. But any key I press on the console terminal is repeated a couple dozen times (to the limit of the input line length?). This makes it impossible to interact with ODT.
Is this a normal sort of well-understood failure mode? In this session excerpt, the only thing I am sending is <BREAK> (giving me the normal chevron prompt), <ENTER> (giving me the repeated chevrons, sometimes with other characters in the pattern), ?, and h. I did not type any colons at the [XQA0] prompt, though I did try to backspace them. The behavior is the same if I remove all boards besides the KA655-B and 16 MB memory board.
KA655-B V5.3, VMB 2.7
Performing normal system tests.
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.
Loading system software.
No default boot device has been specified.
Available devices.
-DUA0 (RA81)
-DUA1 (RA81)
-XQA0 (08-00-2B-19-A2-D7)
-XQB0 (08-00-2B-0D-83-C0)
Device? [XQA0]: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : \ \\
?26 VAL TOO LRG
Device? [XQA0]:
(BOOT/R5:0 XQA0)
2..
-XQA0
?4B CTRLERR, XQA0
?06 HLT INST
PC = 00000C1A
Failure.
>>>A0
?22 ILL CMD
>>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>>>A>>^C
>>>????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
?22 ILL CMD
>>>
>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>
?22 ILL CMD
>>>
>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>
?22 ILL CMD
>>>
>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>^C
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
?22 ILL CMD
>>>
>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>^C
>>>hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
?22 ILL CMD
>>>
>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>?2>>>\>\\^C
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
?22 ILL CMD
>>>
ok
bear.
--
until further notice
> From: Liam Proven
> This is what makes a PDP-11/35 or PDP-11/40 tick. It turns out to be
> 441 ICs.
I wondered if it was fair to list the DEC 23B00A2, etc that hold the ucode
as separate parts; they might have been a bunch of 256x4 PROMs, and the
separate part numbers were just for the different programming. (Whether
differently programmed PROMs count as 'different' parts for the purposes
of this table I leave aside.)
Looking at my M7232 card, though, I think they may be masked ROMs; the
only part number on them looks like a manufacturer applied one with the
DEC number.
Interestingly, about a third are MMI parts, and the rest are NS. I wonder
if neither manufacturer had enough capacity alone, or if DEC just wanted
multiple sourcing. (The parts appear to be basically the same, in terms of
speed, format, etc so it appears either could have provided any of them,
modulo the programme.)
Noel
Hi, I'm looking for some older HP 1000 A class parts and wanted to see
if anyone had them... below is what I need... If you have them, let me
know.
12103L? 4MB Memory Board
12103-66002 4MB Memory Board
12103-69102 4MB Memory Board
12016A? SCSI Interface Board
12016-69102 SCSI Interface Board
Thanks
Jesse
Cypress Tech
jesse at cypress-tech.com
Found on Hackernews but by our very own Seth Morabito...
?
This is what makes a PDP-11/35 or PDP-11/40 tick. It turns out to be
441 ICs. Impressive!
?
https://loomcom.com/blog/0044_what_makes_a_pdp_11_35_tick.html
--
Liam Proven - Profile: https://about.me/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk - Google Mail/Hangouts/Plus: lproven at gmail.com
Twitter/Facebook/Flickr: lproven - Skype/LinkedIn: liamproven
UK: +44 7939-087884 - ?R (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053
On Tue, 6/11/19, dwight via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> When I needed to create a PAL from a schematic, I first made
> a schematic of what the PAL was suppose to do, using the
> same basic model of logic that the PAL provided. Once I was
> done, I took the PAL map from the TI book and made red dots
> on each of the connections I needed. I'd then go back
I thought I was the only one! Back when I first used a PAL, I
also photocopied the page from the databook, marked up
the connections I wanted, and then asked my coworkers
how to get that programmed into the device. It was pretty
annoying to learn I had to convert it to equations first. It
seemed like a pointless extra step when the software was
just going to turn around and turn the equations back into
the matrix wiring I had just marked up.
BLS
Does anyone have any experience working with modems that didn't include
internal / auto dialers?
They came up in a conversation in a newsgroup and I realized that I know
of them, but know virtually nothing about them.
I think they were separate devices, which probably means that they
likely had separate serial ports to talk to each of them. Did they
support some sort of pass through? Or did they really require two
serial ports on the host?
--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
Get a load of this:
http://www.gopherprotocol.com
I pointed them to RFC 1436 in case they haven't been paying attention.
I eagerly await their next protocols, IPX and TCP/IP!
g.
--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home.
Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies.
ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!
I have a large qty to donate to a vintage computer group. I do not want to
ship. Someone in Austin or San Antonio area want to come and get it?
I would like it gone before this Saturday.
Cindy Croxton
Electronics Plus
1613 Water Street
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-370-3239 cell
sales at elecplus.com
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> L series are combinatorial only. You (or someone who has a working one)
> should be able to figure out a logic map by either running through all
> the input permutation or putting it in a reader that will do the same
> (vs reading the fuse data).
>
> -Alan
>
> Good luck.
unfortunately I don't have a working PAL, that's why I'm looking for the jedec file
After long delay, we can finally share the location of this year's
show! Room registration is open and awaiting your reservation. We've
got a new venue this year and that means a new table layout, which
we're hard at work on and will be posted Real Soon Now. Then we can
start signing up exhibits and vendors. Look for another announcement
email when we're ready to begin.
Here are the vital accommodation infos:
WHERE: Waterford Banquets/Clarion Inn, 933 S. Riverside Drive, Elmhurst, IL
WHEN: September 14-15, 2019
HOW MUCH: We have a group rate of $109/night for single or double-bed rooms
RESERVATIONS: We have a direct link for our group code. Note that the
dates default to the entire block (Wed-Mon) and you will have to
adjust them to your needs.
LINK: https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/gw24z4
OTHER STUFF: Please make use of our group code if you're staying with
us. Every room (and room-night) counts toward reducing our venue costs
and increases the chances of being invited back next year! If you
book with AAA or another group plan, please let the hotel know that
you are attending VCF Midwest and they will credit your stay to our
block.
RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE BY AUGUST 24, 2019! NO GROUP RATE WILL BE
HONORED AFTER THAT DATE!
Note: If the online form is not working or not giving you the group
rate, please call the hotel directly at 630-279-0700 before contacting
us!
Oh yes, we figured new location = new era = new website. Besides,
some found the old site a bit unfriendly and primitive, what with all
that green monospace nonsense, like it's some kind of old computer or
something. This new "interactive[1]" look is sure to impress.
Surely. nothing says "user-friendly" like... http://vcfmw.org
Thanks to all and we'll see you in September,
-j
[1] In that it's "not batch".
All HP fans in general and Tony in particular,
I have the exact same problem. HP98035 real time clock module
(http://hpmuseum.net/display_item.php?hw=168), plugged into a HP9825T
(http://hpmuseum.net/display_item.php?hw=171), accepts commands, reads back
all 8's. Battery is new, is charging and at the correct voltage.
Documentation says "never run the module without the battery or it would
damage the AC5954N clock chip". When I got the module it had not battery in
it, so this is what could have happened. Tony, did you eventually repair
your module or find some data on the clock chip?
Marc
List: classiccmp <https://marc.info/?l=classiccmp&r=1&w=2>
Subject: AC5954N clock chip (I think)
From: ard () p850ug1 ! demon ! co ! uk (Tony Duell)
<https://marc.info/?a=104957097300008&r=1&w=2>
Date: 2001-08-26 22:55:32
<https://marc.info/?l=classiccmp&r=1&w=2&b=200108>
[Download RAW message
<https://marc.info/?l=classiccmp&m=104961357310567&q=mbox> or body
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I've got a non-working HP98035 real time clock module (for HP9825, etc)
on the bench.
It accepts commands, it sends something back, so I think the bus
interface and microcontroller are all fine. The problems are :
The real time reads back as 88:88:88:88:88
There is no activity on the crystal connected to the AC5954N clock chip
(or at least I think it's a clock chip). Enabling the oscillator
testpoint doesn't do a darn thing (well, the control/setting latch U7
changes state so again the microcontroller is doing something). There is
no activity on any of the pins on the chip.
It is getting power (it's not a problem with the NiCd battery).
I suspect the chip. Has anyone come across it? It may be a common digital
clock/calendar chip, or at least related to one (if it is HP-custom).
It doesn't seem to be particularly designed for a microprocessor bus --
the output may be for direct driving 7-segment displays or maybe a
multiplexed BCD output to link to a display decoder/driver.
Thanks in advance for any help.
-tony
I have been scanning a few manuals and brochures related to the Alfaskop
series of IBM 3270 compatible and Uniscope 100 compatible terminals.
http://www.datormuseum.se/peripherals/terminals/alfaskop
Unfortunately very little seems to be saved regarding this series of quite
successful terminals. In total around 900.000 units were produced.
Starting with the dumb 3100 with delay line memory, to the 3500/ 3700 with
a TTL CPU and the the 4100 series with 6800 CPU and finally the 91xx series
with 68k CPU (I believe). There is a brief history on the wiki page (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfaskop)
One interesting thing with the 41xx series is that it has a general purpose
real time operating system described in this manual
http://storage.datormuseum.se/u/96935524/Datormusuem/Alfaskop/Alfaskop_Syst…
This manual refers to a SPL programming Language, and a SPL reference
manual, which I am lacking. The SPL language seems to have realtime
constructs like WAIT, DECLARE TASK, POST etc. Is there anyone that
recognize the language or is it an invention made by Datasaab back in the
days?
Another interesting feature is that the 41xx series made use of a star
coupled 300 kbit/s sort of network. Mainly to communicate with the likewise
networked floppy drive or communication controller. The terminal could be
configured to work stand alone with a floppy drive or using a communication
controller as it seems.
Depending on what it was configured for, the terminal could either run
various terminal emulations, the Alfaword wordprocessing package or even
the UCSD p-system.
It would really be very interesting to find any of this software. So if
anyone knows anything I am interested.
> From: Allison
> ODT for the two systems are very different. .. KDF-11 the ODT is part
> of the higher level code. The larger cards (11/23 and 23+) boot to
> resident (ep)rom.
Ah, no. (Well, the KDF11 CPU's can boot to EPROM, which in the -11/23+ can be
on the CPU card; the -11/23 is a dual card and has no functionality on the CPU
card except the CPU.)
The ODT in the KDF11's (and KDJ11's) is, just like in the LSI-11's,
microcode, not macro-code. From the 1982 'microcomputers and memories'
handbook, pg. 161 (in Chapter 7, "Octal Debugging Technique (Microcode
ODT)"):
"The console emulator Octal Debugging Technique (ODT)is a portion of
the processor microcode ... The console ODT implemented on the LSI-11/23,
PDP-11/23 and PDP-11/23-PLUS is identical."
and on pg. 154:
"Unlike the LSI-11 and LSI-11/2, the LSI-11/23 does not enter console
ODT upon occurrence of a double bus error"
>From which I think is quite clear that the KDF11's have microcode ODT.
Noel
A follow-up to close out something:
> OK, now a picture of the bus with no console card:
> http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/jpg/BSYN-BDAL_NoMem.jpg
[Note: image re-named, to correctly say what it's showing]
> It's a bit hard to interpret what's going on here .. The long assertion
> of BSYNC is undoubtly the CPU trying to get the console CSR to respond,
> and eventually timing out. Not sure what the short assertion following
> it is - without looking at the ucode for the ODT, there's no way to know
> what the CPU's doing.
> Even harder to understand is what the BDAL line is doing. It looks like
> it's un-asserted (0, i.e. +3V) on the falling (electrically - rising,
> logically) edge of BSYN (which would be incorrect - see above). And then
> it hops around while BSYNC is asserted, which makes no sense at all to
> me.
So this makes a little more sense now.
This is actually showing a NXM cycle to main memory (apparently to address 0),
hence the '0' on BDAL10. (The second assertion of BSYNC must be somehow
associated with the NXM.) Apparently it doesn't even try to talk to the
console card unless the memory is there OK; if it can't see the memory, it
must just reset and try again.
Here:
> http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/jpg/BSYN-BDAL_NoCon.jpg
is a system with memory, but without a console. A very similar picture, but
here BDAL10 _is_ '1', as expected.
So the original picture did in fact indicate what the problem was - had I
known enough to know how to interpret it! Schaeffer's Law strikes again!
Although I still don't understand why the LSI-11 wants to see main memory on
the bus, in order for ODT to run. ODT doesn't use memory at all; ODT on the
KDF11 CPUs will run without any memory.
Noel
> From: Mister PDP
> Wow, I wasn't aware that the ODT console needed memory to run.
It was news to me too! (And apparently to most others here too?)
I was going to look at those confusing bus cycles, using an only slightly
mis-addressed console, and wanted to first check that that console worked when
properly configured; so I plugged in it and an LSI-11/2 CPU - nothing.
Switched to a different CPU (maybe the first one died), _still_ nothing? So I
tried an -11/23, ODT worked! So, the console worked; the chances of two CPUs
that were working a week ago suddenly both dying seemed slim... what else
could it be?
And the /23 works with no memory! Odd. Will definitely have to make a note
of that LSI-11 behaviour on the CHWiki.
> I plugged in my 32kw module with my M8017-AA, and it fired right up to
> ODT without a hassle.
Yee-hah!!! EXCELLENT!!!
Well, it took a while, but we finally got there! Do let us know how it goes
with your next steps - and if you have an issue, let us know! (Hopefully, next
time, we won'tbe so clueless! :-)
Noel
PS: Might be useful to check that the DLV11-J works; having a stock of known-good
boards you can swap in is such a tool for QBUS debugging.
I have a few of these that need to be tested. I am certain they have not
been plugged in for many years.
Is the anything special I need to do before I just plug them in and turn
them on?
Cindy Croxton
Electronics Plus
1613 Water Street
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-370-3239 cell
sales at elecplus.com
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Wow, I wasn't aware that the ODT console needed memory to run. Checking on
my board, it looks like the 4kw was disabled. I plugged in my 32kw module
with my M8017-AA, and it fired right up to ODT without a hassle. Seems that
was the issue all along.
On Fri, Jun 7, 2019, 3:08 PM Noel Chiappa <jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
> Hi, sorry I'm slow to do those tests; got distracted by the power
> card stuff.
>
> So I've just dicovered that in a system with _only_ an LSI-11/2,
> and a console, ODT doesn't start. I had to plug a memory card in
> as well for ODT to work. (Confused the dickens out of me!)
>
> Is the RAM on your CPU card configured off?
>
> Noel
>
Hi,
I think someone was looking for tape seals for 9 track tapes, a few weeks
ago.
If they can contact me offline, I have about 20 of varying sizes for
shipping cost or local pickup.
Stan
sieler at allegro.com
> From: Systems_Glitch
> I believe the big difference was in the current-supplying capability on
> the +15V rail -- 1A vs. 4A.
Ah, thanks for the tip.
I have an H742, so I was exable to examine it, and the 5409730 (difference
details on that below). The transformer may also be different (see below).
The other differences seem to be mechanical; a larger cooling fan on the 7420,
and the sheet-metal enclosure that holds the the power control board,
transformer and fan is in two parts, bolted together.
Interestingly, in light of your issue, the H7420's all have a fuse in the AC
supply line to the 5411086; it's mounted on the enclosure. Nothing in the
H742, though.
> I believe it was mentioned as an upgrade thing in one of the technical
> manuals I'd read some time ago.
If you happen to recall where that was, I'd be very interested to see it.
Upgrading from an H742 to an H7420 appears to be relatively simple; the pinout
on the Mate-N-Lok which carries the outputs from the power board (DEC's name
for it changes) is the same in both versions. (Have yet to look at the two
Mate-N-Lok's on either side of it; I guess those carry the ~30V AC to the
bricks.)
Upgrading an H742 _to_ an H7420 appears to be more problematic. To start with,
the power board is mounted vertically (on the inside face of the enclosure) in
the H7420, but horizontally (above the transformer) in the H742. Maybe they
changed the transformer too? Will have to check. It's also possible that was
caused by the switch to the larger fan. Anyway, the 5411086 might not fit
in the horizontal; plus the interface is different (see below).
> It would be easy to make up a new harness to swap one in place of the
> other, since the 5411086 goes to a Mate-n-Lok that plugs into the power
> distribution board.
Yes and no!
The 5409730 and the 5411086 are significantly different, mechanically. The
former doesn't have the edge connector (the one that burned out on you),
rather it has a short 12-wire pigtail to a female Mate-N-Lok which plugs into
a hole in the enclosure. That's for the _outputs_ - the AC input is in a
separate 4-pin Mate-n-Lok (physically exactly like the one on older disk
drives on PC's) which is mounted onto the board. (4 pins since there are two
differnet AC inputs - one pair is filtered through what seem to be hefty coils
in the input wiring.)
The harness used in the BA11-K is also significantly different from the one in
the H7420; the former has a male Mate-n-Lok, the latter is a female. The
pinout appears to be a subset on the BA11-K, only 9 of the 12 pins are wired;
assuming standard colour coding, the +8V DC is missing, as is the second
ACLO and DCLO.
Although, as you say, one could make a new harness. Speaking of which, do you
know of a source for the connector that goes onto the edge connector? (Some of
my BA11-K's are missing the harness.)
I'm slowly adding all this info to the CHWiki.
Noel
A friend at work picked up a nice MacPlus but no boot disk.? I have no
Mac compatible drive options here, so I am hoping someone might be able
to help.? I believe it can run OS6.0.8 on 800K floppies, but others
might know more.? Happy to pay for disk, work, and shipping.? Was going
to buy from BMOW, but they are out of stock.
Jim
--
Jim Brain
brain at jbrain.comwww.jbrain.com
> From: Paul Anderson
>> (I also should check to see if the H742 uses the same 15V board; it
>> uses the same 'bricks', so it may.)
> Didn't the H7420 , which replaced the H742, use that also? The H742 uses
> a different one .
Oooh, good catch! The H742 uses a 5409730, but the H7420 does use the 5411086,
the same as in the H765. I always wondered what the difference was between the
H742 and H7420.
I wonder if the two boards (and thus the the power harness) have an identical
pinout, or not.
Noel
> From: Systems Glitch
> I finally fixed the power supply in my PDP-11/10S ... For those who
> have original 5411086s that haven't failed yet, you might want to
> make up a little pigtail with an inline fuse holder.
Congratulations, and a great blog write-up.
The issue you point out (lack of fusing for some components on the +15V
board) will of course apply to not just -11/10S's, but any -11 which uses
the H765, either for the CPU box (e.g. /04, /34) or for an expansion box.
This is important enough that I think I'll add a writeup to the CHWiki
article for that:
http://gunkies.org/wiki/H765_Power_System
which restates the problem, and the proposed solution. (I also should check
to see if the H742 uses the same 15V board; it uses the same 'bricks', so
it may.)
Noel
Rick,
I have a Rockwell AIM-65 and back in the day did a lot of laboratory data acquisition and other things with them. I interfaced one to an atomic absorption graphite furnace to collect the readings and compute the parts per billion of various trace minerals in samples to translate 6 bit ticker tape code at 66.67 baud to 9600 baud ascii for a PDP-11/44. I did development on the AIM-65 and then transferred the code on EPROMs to Rockwell RM6500 single board cards usually. At home I made a ballistic chronometer with some aluminum foil and a resistor and my trusty AIM-65.
The most interesting project was an instrument I designed to measure how stable a vegetable oil was to oxidation. The AIM-65 would test 16 samples using a wire wrapped relay board to sequence through the signals, an Intersil 7109 12 bit A/D chip, a conductivity circuit, 32 Kbytes of RAM to hold data for plotting and a small 4 inch wide Radio Shack Pen Plotter. We built about five of them to use within our company, but had requests from customers for the instruments. Eventually, we out licensed the patents to an external company and I rewrote the software to run on a IBM PC. Later I rewrote the software in LabVIEW and it still runs in many labs where vegetable oils are refined or used. The analytical method for it is called the ?Oil Stability Index? and I wrote the official method (AOCS Cd12b-92) that defines it. If you search for ?Oil Stability Index? you?ll find it is widely used in the field. It is also sometimes called the Rancimat method after another automated instrument introduced later that works in the same way.
When I do get my AIM-65 out to play, it often is catatonic at first. I?ve found that (at least for mine) it is related to the inexpensive IC sockets Rockwell used in it. Usually some Deoxit or tuner cleaner on the sockets and reseating some ROM chips is all that is needed to get it going. That said you certainly could have more complicated issues as well.
Best,
Mark
full writeup here: http://www.glitchwrks.com/2019/06/05/pdp1110-psu-repair
I finally fixed the power supply in my PDP-11/10S, it turned out to be a
shorted bridge rectifier on the 5411086 board, which provides +15 VDC, LTC,
and AC LO/DC LO. Unfortunately, when it failed, the rectifier burned up the
edge connector traces for the AC input to the board. I ended up cutting the
edge connector traces away (what was left) and soldering on a pigtail to
connect to the Mate-n-Lok coming from the AC transformer. I added a 15A
inline fuse, in the repair.
For those who have original 5411086s that haven't failed yet, you might
want to make up a little pigtail with an inline fuse holder. It'd be easy
to make up such that it could plug into the existing harness without
permanent modification, and it'll save your edge connector traces if the
rectifier shorts. It can happen in the other regulator modules too, but
they use a Mate-n-Lok instead of an edge connector, so any damage would be
repairable.
Anyway, the PDP-11/10S is back up and running!
Thanks,
Jonathan