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

by dj.taylor4＠comcast.net

I've been compiling and running some Fortran programs on my microPDP11/53 computer and have questions about Fortran VIRTUAL arrays. Details: KDJ11-D/S cpu with 0.5 MB of ram, additional 1MB of Qbus ram.? I'm running RT11 V5.7 ZM and using the F77XM compiler, version 5 (I think). What I am seeing is that when I use VIRTUAL arrays instead of the usual memory below 64K the run times are dramatically slower.? Is this normal? Could it be something else?? The other memory board?

6 years, 11 months

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Televideo 925 character rom dump

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- I'm working on a Televideo 925 terminal with a few problems, one of which is a bad character generator ROM, (a MOS 2332). Does anyone have a dump of this already, or have a working 925 they'd be able to dump the ROM from? Thanks in advance, Josh

6 years, 11 months

5
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Need part for Sun 2/129

by earl＠baugh.org

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 Sent from my iPhone

6 years, 11 months

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Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Thanks? Al? ?yes, that? is? the? one. and? as? I? recall? ?ISS? was a? ?offshoot? on? ?univac Do? ?you? have? any? Thanks Ed# In a message dated 4/22/2019 11:34:58 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: Thanks? Al? ?yes, that? is? the? one. and? as? I? recall? ?ISS? was a? ?offshoot? on? ?univac?In a message dated 4/22/2019 11:21:50 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On 4/22/19 11:05 AM, ED SHARPE wrote:> Al,? the? drive? ?you mention at? its? largest? ?was? 7.5 meg? and? 6? platters... not? ? the? ?one Telex bought their drives from ISS.You're looking for a ISS 714 (ca. 1970) 2314 compat.https://ia800608.us.archive.org/15/items/TNM_Information_Storage_Sys… aek at bitsavers.org;cctalk

6 years, 11 months

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Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Thanks? Al? ?yes, that? is? the? one.? and? as? I? recall? ?ISS? was a? ?offshoot? on? ?univac?In a message dated 4/22/2019 11:21:50 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On 4/22/19 11:05 AM, ED SHARPE wrote: > Al,? the? drive? ?you mention at? its? largest? ?was? 7.5 meg? and? 6? platters... not? ? the? ?one Telex bought their drives from ISS. You're looking for a ISS 714 (ca. 1970) 2314 compat. https://ia800608.us.archive.org/15/items/TNM_Information_Storage_Systems_-_… aek at bitsavers.org;cctalk

6 years, 11 months

2
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IBM 6360 - interface help?

by anders.k.nelson＠gmail.com

CCing the list back in, and still looking for someone in the NY area with a Displaywriter (with disk drive) that could help me take some logic traces - ==== Quoth Nigel: just in case you missed it your reply only went to me. On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 1:45 PM Anders Nelson <anders.k.nelson at gmail.com> wrote: > Nigel - Wow, very cool! I assume you dumped a ROM feeding an 8048 inside the 6360 drive housing? Someone dumped the original ROM, it is in the github repo too. > FWIW, I also found a Displaywriter withOUT keyboard or disk drive: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1984-IBM-6580-Display-Station-Word-Process… If you want a 6580 keyboard you either have to get lucky or outbid the mech-heads...be prepared to bid a lot though. Estate sales are the thing to haunt to get one intact. ==== Thanks Nigel, more below! -- Anders Nelson +1 (517) 775-6129 www.erogear.com On Sun, Apr 21, 2019 at 11:45 PM Anders Nelson <anders.k.nelson at gmail.com> wrote: > Nigel - Wow, very cool! I assume you dumped a ROM feeding an 8048 inside > the 6360 drive housing? > > I agree a logic dump would be invaluable so if I can get in front of a DW > I'll capture and share all I find on my blog (and wherever else). > > Al - I found a USB conversion kit for this keyboard and it's all > open-source, so by reversing the key-matrix decode step in the kit's MCU > firmware we might be able to feed the original keyboard controller with > keystrokes from, say, another USB keyboard. A very roundabout hack but it > seems these keyboards are rare. Here are the conversion kit sources: > > Forum: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=58138.0 > Direct: http://downloads.cornall.co/ibm-capsense-usb/ > > Any chance someone knows the original keyboard controller pinout and > protocol? > > FWIW, I also found a Displaywriter withOUT keyboard or disk drive: > https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1984-IBM-6580-Display-Station-Word-Process… > > =] > -- > Anders Nelson > > +1 (517) 775-6129 > > www.erogear.com > > > On Sun, Apr 21, 2019 at 11:12 PM Nigel Williams < > nw at retrocomputingtasmania.com> wrote: > >> Hi Anders, >> >> good luck with your exploration of the 6360. >> >> Back in Jan-2017, I assisted Sergey who did the MAME implementation of >> the Displaywriter, as Al Kossow mentioned in an earlier email the code >> is here: >> >> >> https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/97b67170277437131adf6ed4d60139c172529e… >> >> During this process I started disassembling the 6360, attached is a >> file that I developed with comments. It is incomplete but might help >> understand the protocol. >> >> One thing to keep in mind is that the Displaywriter is made up of >> (almost) standalone subsystems, so the floppy drive unit has its own >> 8048 microprocessor and accepts high-level commands from the system >> unit. >> >> Sergey and I were chatting about returning to work on the MAME >> Displaywriter implementation at some point. We really need a >> logic-analyser dump of the startup since it is very convoluted (it has >> a large section of code attempting to check that all the hardware is >> working so it is doing all manner of tricks to check things). >> >> cheers, >> nigel. >> www.retroComputingTasmania.com >> >> >> On Mon, Apr 1, 2019 at 6:42 AM Anders Nelson via cctalk >> <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: >> > Can anyone help with the protocol? >> >

6 years, 11 months

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Telex 274-61C Establishment Controller

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Picked one up, it is the last generation of 3274-style controllers before they went to 3174-style ca. 1988. I'd like to find manuals and the IPL diskette (1.2mb). The unit actually had an IPL floppy, but it disintegrated trying to recover it (there is signs of rust inside the hardware so the whole thing got wet). I took some pics of the boards (each one has a 68000 on it, only one board has eproms) and dumped the firmware which is up now under telex on bitsavers. Curiously, the floppy appears to be in FILES-11 format..

6 years, 11 months

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Ultrix 3.0 VAX

by dennis.grevenstein＠gmail.com

Hi, I am looking for images of Ultrix 3.0 installation tapes for VAX. I know that there are some on bitsavers: http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/bits/DEC/vax/ultrix/3.0/ However, I cannot boot them in simh. There are also 4.0 images that boot fine. I then installed 4.0 and looked at the 3.0 tape images. I could extract the base 3.0 filesets, but the standalone parts that allow booting a system appear to be missing. Thus, I could not even setup a remote installation environment. Can anybody help me out with bootable Ultrix 3 tape images? thanks, Dennis

6 years, 11 months

1
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TeleVideo MmmOST replacement

by pat＠vax11.net

I've finally have cleaned up sources and wrote up some documentation for my TeleVideo MmmOST replacement. Let me know if you have interest in this, need help, or could help me source a working TS-806 to compare this against. https://worldofvax.blogspot.com/2019/04/televideo-systems-part-vii-almmmost… Pat

6 years, 11 months

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Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list thanks Ed# ---hope this works and see ds from phone ok... thx try it? again!In a message dated 4/21/2019 3:58:15 PM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list thanks Ed# ---hope this works and see ds from phone ok... thx

6 years, 11 months

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CDC BK6XX BK7XX maintenance manual Vol2

by abacos_98＠yahoo.com

I have a CDC BK6XX BK7XX Maintenance manual Vol 2 available.If anyone has an immediate need I will send it free but please passit on to Bitsavers after scanning as I did not see this one listed. Brian.

6 years, 11 months

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Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

2311? was? not? ?20? megs..... from? what? I? saw... what is the? ?#? ?for the? 20 meg? telex? drive?thanks? ed# In a message dated 4/22/2019 10:01:04 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On 4/22/19 9:49 AM, ED (knuttjobb) SHARPE via cctalk wrote: >? Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list thanks Presumably he is looking for a Telex 2311-compatible drive, but who knows wtf Ed says.

6 years, 11 months

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Still looking for a RK611

by abacos_98＠yahoo.com

Hello, ?I have just about all the pieces I need to start work on getting at least one of my RK07's running. I found cables, terminators and cab kit but still need to find an RK611. I have just a few things I could trade. A very nice PDP11 labeled header panel for a DEC rack.No broken ears and not all scratched up. Brand new DECstation 5000/260 processor. Some non-DEC early PC boards. I would also pay a reasonable price for one. Thanks,Brian.

6 years, 11 months

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IBM 6360 - interface help?

by anders.k.nelson＠gmail.com

Hey all, I'm writing a blog post about this IBM 6360 disk controller I want to build: https://www.andersknelson.com/blog/?p=601 I've read through the service manuals and other docs on Bitsavers but I can't seem to find a deeper explanation on the protocol that runs over the DB-37 cable. I suppose I could bypass the controller inside the drive cabinet and directly control the drives but I bet it'll be easier/better to use as much of the electronics as possible. Can anyone help with the protocol? Thanks! -- Anders Nelson +1 (517) 775-6129 www.erogear.com

6 years, 11 months

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DEC PDP-11/70 cabinet setup

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Nigel Williams >> it's the same as all the other PDP-11 etc logo panels,... > when you say "same", as in the same text as well? Sorry, I should have been more explicit. 'Same physical shape' is what I meant; just different stuff painted on the insert. > thanks for the confirmation. Sure, glad to help. Noel

6 years, 11 months

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DEC PDP-11/70 cabinet setup

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Nigel Williams > I'm wondering if on a real 11/70 there is a 5mm gap between the > masthead and the rack blanking panel below it? If by "masthead" you mean the thing DEC calls a "Logo Panel" (see 11/70 Engineering Drawings, 'Unit Assembly', pg 1 of 5), it's the same as all the other PDP-11 etc logo panels, the -11/70 just has an inlay (thin metal sheet) which is painted differently. And yes, there's a 5mm gap between the top of the top 10-1/2" blank panel, and the bottom edge of the logo panel. Noel

6 years, 11 months

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Telex 20 Meg 10 platter very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..r

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Subject: Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list.. Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list thanks Ed# ---hope this works and see ds from phone ok... thx-------

6 years, 11 months

2
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Rgb intensity line

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

I am fashioning an RGB cable from parts. The computer (LNW80) does not send an "intensity" signal, it is only a 6pin rgb. The magnavox rgb 80 display that I wish to use to receive has a pin for an intensity signal. Other than "intensity" the rgb signals can be matched up. Question...what happens when a computer does not send an intensity signal to a display that has this input? I will find out soon enough but I am curious to ask before I begin should anyone have a suggestion. Do I need to add a resistor off of ground or something to fix it to something? Bill

6 years, 11 months

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DEC PDP-11/70 cabinet setup

by nw＠retrocomputingtasmania.com

I'm hoping to (partially) recreate an 11/70 setup, at least as close as I can get with what I have on hand (see the first pic in this gallery that shows the 11/70 advert): https://imgur.com/a/pvgUVmg I don't have the right masthead but I'm wondering if on a real 11/70 there is a 5mm gap between the masthead and the rack blanking panel below it? I can't see with these pieces a way to close the gap, but I'm curious as to whether the real thing also has the gap? thanks.

6 years, 11 months

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Plane of core memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Curious Marc > I believe 3 wire memory was first introduced by IBM in their 360 > systems ... They would almost certainly have patented their way to do it Correct (and your knowledge and memory is good)! Motivated by this clue, I looked in: Emerson W. Pugh, "Memories That Shaped an Industry" MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984 where the description of the invention of 3-wire core can be found on pg. 231; it was invented by a group of engineers, based on a similar idea used in Stretch. There is indeed a patent, No. 3,381,282, with six names on it. IBM must have licensed it, but there is nothing on that. I can highly recommend that book; it's in the same league as the later two books on early IBM computers from MIT Press on which he was a co-author. Noel PS: There was recent discussion here of the 8000 series; there are some details on that on pp. 189-191.

6 years, 11 months

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Care and feeding of true barn-find systems

by aperry＠snowmoose.com

Yesterday I rescued a Sun 3/260 that had been sitting in an open barn for years. It had been "running when parked" a dozen years ago.? It seems to have been covered by a tarp, but otherwise unprotected. All things considered, it doesn't look that bad but it is pretty rough. Any pointers on things that I should and shouldn't do as I start trying to bring it back to life? alan

6 years, 11 months

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MSCP Conformance tests?

by derschjo＠gmail.com

I'm working on implementing an MSCP controller on top of Joerg Hoppe's Unibone and I'm making pretty good progress -- RT-11 works and I'm working on getting 2.11bsd to boot from it in an 11/84 (it works well enough to load "boot" which then loads the kernel, then things fall over). However, given the complexity of the protocol I'd like to be able to test it against something official rather than going from OS to OS and hammering out issues as I find them. DEC's UDA50 diagnostics assume an actual UDA50 (and expect specific behaviors like onboard diagnostics, etc.) and I don't really want to emulate a UDA50 -- I just want to implement a generic MSCP controller properly. I'm assuming the answer is "no" but did DEC ever provide actual MSCP conformance tests (for PDP-11 or VAX) to allow third parties to test their implementations? Thanks as always, Josh

6 years, 11 months

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Plane of core memory

by ullbeking＠andrewnesbit.org

Hello all, I have been wanting to acquire a plane of magnetic core memory as a piece of computing history. My partner actually thinks they look very beautiful and says we should frame it, if we ever find a plane. At the time I was thinking about memory from the S/360. But in retrospect, this is not necessary. It would, however, be nice to know what computer a prospective purchase likely came from. It adds to the meaning. One of my online friends just pointed this to me, which I am considering purchasing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/264262833353 There is no indication of what sort of computer it came from. However I have been told to check the bus connector. Does anybody here have any ideas? For example, what is it? Or, if you don't know, could you point me in the right direction so I can do the research myself? Thanks!! Kind regards, Andrew -- OpenPGP key: EB28 0338 28B7 19DA DAB0 B193 D21D 996E 883B E5B9

6 years, 11 months

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Control Console, but not PDP-10

by pbirkel＠gmail.com

The PDP-10 Control Console sold for $3,650.00. Amazing! Now consider a DSKY. Currently at $27,500.00. Auction estimate: $60,000+ Great provenance! ?The DSKY that saved Apollo 14.? https://www.rrauction.com/bidtracker_detail.cfm?IN=5222 ?Apollo 14 LM Simulator Computer Display and Keyboard (DSKY) from MIT Instrumentation Laboratory? Historically significant Apollo Guidance Computer Display and Keyboard (DSKY) unit from the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, used by Don Eyles and Sam Drake to verify the software patch needed to avoid an abort during the Apollo 14 lunar landing sequence. The data entry and display device measures 8? x 8? x 6.5?, and has 19 keys and an electroluminescent digital display. The back of the unit retains its metal NASA parts tag which reads, ?Apollo G & N System, AGC DSKY Assy, Part No. 2003985-041, Serial No. RAY 26, NAS 9-497, Designed by M.I.T. Instrumentation Lab, Mfg. by Raytheon Co., " with yellow inspection stamps above. In fine condition. Accompanied by a detailed letter of provenance from the present owner, who was employed at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory to design, build, and maintain the CM and LM cockpit simulators. He retained the DSKY in 1978 when the LM cockpit simulator was dismantled and discarded. The DSKY was the astronaut's interface to the Apollo Guidance Computer developed by MIT, and was critical to every aspect of the mission. Each program had a two-digit code and commands were entered as two-digit numbers in a verb-noun sequence. The device permitted the astronauts to collect and provide flight information necessary for the precise landings on the moon. It was the DSKY that provided the astronauts with critical burn times for engine firings, course corrections, trajectories, and other key calculations vital in getting a crew to and from the moon. The DSKY also reported the program alarm moments before the LM touched down on the lunar surface to land. During Apollo 14, a loose ball of solder floating inside the abort switch of the LM Antares caused an intermittent short circuit, threatening to accidentally activate the switch and rocket the module back into orbit during its landing sequence. In order to prevent that scenario, MIT computer programmer Don Eyles, a developer of the AGC's source code, was asked to hack his own software to find a workaround. This represented the most dramatic moment for MIT's programmers throughout the entire Apollo program, as they had just three to four hours to work out a fix, test it, and relay it to the astronauts in time for Powered Descent Initiation (PDI). Eyles accomplished his task in just two hours, developing a 26-command sequence to be entered into the DSKY that reprogrammed the AGC to ignore the abort button. The codes were relayed to Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell with ten minutes to spare, and the LM Antares successfully touched down on the lunar surface at 09:18:11 UTC on February 5, 1971. As the MIT DSKY used to verify the code that saved the Apollo 14 mission, this is an exceptionally important piece of space history. -----

6 years, 11 months

4
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Plane of core memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jon Elson > As soon as somebody figured out that you could combine the sense and > inhibit wires, everybody immediately went to 3-wire planes. I"m suprised the idea wasn't patented. Or maybe it was, and they made the license widely available at modest terms? Noel

6 years, 12 months

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PDP-11/93 and PMI Memory

by bill.gunshannon＠hotmail.com

Well, I was finally able to get a PMI memory board to expand my 11/93 to the full 4 Meg. (Thanks Paul!) I thought it would be as simple as configuring what bank I wanted it to fill and inserting it (in front of the CPU). Sadly, that didn't work. First problem is the only document i could find is not for the actual version of the board I have. It has the same switch sets so I tried it anyway. Set it to be in the upper 2Meg and gave it the next CSR after the on board memory. No luck. 11/93 still reports 1024KWords and the Map command shows neither the additional memory or the second memory CSR. Anybody have any experience with this? Is there a switch I have to change on the CPU module to make it recognize the additional external memory? IS there something about PMI that I am missing? Any advice gratefully appreciated. bill

6 years, 12 months

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Latest additions to Sellam's sale list

by sellam.ismail＠gmail.com

Happy Spring, fellers! Here is the latest batch of goodies for your perusing pleasure: Amiga 3000-25/50 Commodore 1902A Monitor Daystar Digital Turbo 601 Accelerator Radius Precision Color Pro 24XK Accelerated 24-bit Graphics I/F Atari Mega ST4 Atari Mega ST Keyboard (American) HP Plotter Pens 0.3mm - 5 pen BLACK Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.3mm - 5 pen BLUE Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.3mm - 5 pen PURPLE Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.3mm - 5 pen ORANGE Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.3mm - 5 pen RED Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.3mm - Multi-Color Custom Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.6mm - 5 pen GREEN Pack (Transparency) HP Plotter Pens 0.6mm - 5 pen BLUE Pack (Transparency) HP Plotter Pens 0.6mm - 5 pen RED Pack (Transparency) HP Plotter Pens 0.6mm - 5 pen PURPLE Pack (Transparency) HP Plotter Pens 0.6mm - 5 pen Multi-Color Pack (Transparency) HP Plotter Pens 0.7mm - 5 pen BLACK Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.7mm - 5 pen GREEN Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.7mm - 5 pen BLUE Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.7mm - 5 pen PURPLE Pack (Paper) HP Plotter Pens 0.7mm - 5 pen RED Pack (Paper) IBM PCjr with IBM PCjr Carrying Case IBM Terminal Controller Port Box IBM PS/1 Consultant Atari 520ST Atari Portfolio Technical Reference Guide HP 9815 Hayes Smartmodem 1200 Hayes Smartmodem 2400 Hayes Smartmodem OPTIMA 2400 Iomega PC800B SCSI Controller Star Micronics NX-1000 Multi-font Printer Disk interface bus monitor Electrohome TTL Color Interface Navarone Commodore 64 carthridge port expander Practical Peripherals Pocket FAX/Modem Apple StyleWriter II Sun Microsystems SPARCstation 1 Sun Microsystems SPARCstation Prototype Links to information on these items and more can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I53wxarLHlNmlPVf_HJ5oMKuab4zrApI_hi… Photos on the latest posted items will be available later this evening. You may always inquire if you require more information on a particular item. Per standard procedure, please contact me directly via e-mail to make an offer on a particular item. Thanks! Sellam

6 years, 12 months

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Digital Standard Mumps

by bill.gunshannon＠hotmail.com

Does anyone know what the current status of this might be? I am fairly certain Mentec didn't get this and I am not sure anyone did. Did it merely die when everyone thought Mumps was on the down hill slide? Was it ever really a DEC product or was it something DEC picked up along the way after Mass General let it out of its cage? bill

6 years, 12 months

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PDP-11/83 w/FPU?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Allison > Experience is that an 11/23 or 23+ will run V6 as mine does. What changes did you make to get it to run? (I assume the stock binary wouldn't run.) Noel

6 years, 12 months

2
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PDP-11/83 w/FPU?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: W2HX > i have a few CPUs available to me, a 11/23+, an 11/73 and I also have > available to me an 11/83 > I would like to try to run as many different OS's as may interest me, > including some unixes as possible (bsd...etc). Early Unixes in general will run on those machines - but not straight off the tape (since they didn't exist then, and have quirks which aren't supported). I've brought up V6 on a /23 (which must have the KTF11-A MMU chip); here: http://gunkies.org/wiki/Running_UNIX_V6_on_an_-11/23 are instructions on exactly what (minor) changes need to be made for it to run. The /73 and /83 should be subsets of that, although you'll want to start with m45.s, because those machines support the split-I-D MMU of the -11/45. (A /23 Unix binary would boot/run on them, if you don't feel like doing a special one for them.) I haven't yet tried V6 on them; if you want me to, and do a writeup, let me know. The /73 and /83 have LTC registers, so on those you won't need the LTC hack. Also, you may know this already, but if not, note that the /83 is a PMI: http://gunkies.org/wiki/Private_Memory_Interconnect machine, and _MUST_ be plugged into a Q/CD backplane _only_; plugging into a standard Q/Q backplane will _damage_ it. > would I see any improvement in performance with the FPU compared to > without it? Or does the application running need to be something like > fortran to see any perceivable difference? As someone noted, the /73 and /83 implement thefloating point instructions in microcode, so the code can't tell if the optional FPJ11 FP hardware accelerator is plugged in or not. In general, only on applications (the language is not relevant) which are heavy users of FP would you see any difference. On the /23, with no KEF11-A FPU chip plugged in, there are no floating point instructions at all, so any application which tries to use them will blow out (although under V6 there's an emulator); see here: http://gunkies.org/wiki/Setting_up_UNIX_-_Sixth_Edition and search for 'floating point' to see discussion of it). > From: Ethan Dicks > v5, v6, and v7 UNIX shouldn't require any sort of math hardware. Don't know v5/v7 in detail, but AFAIK that's accurate. V6 can _support_ FP hardware on machines which have it, and is otherwised prepared to emulate those instructions (see above). > From: Paul Koning > I think that was typically called "EAE" (extended arithmetic element), > a Unibus peripheral that implemented integer mul/div ... It only > applies to 11/20 and 11/05 since all the other machines have the > relevant instructions built into the CPU. Also the -11/04 and -11/03 were both missing the EIS; the former could use the EAE, for the latter the optional KEV11-A or KEV11-B microcode chips both provide it. > From: Josh Dersch > The EAE was also an option on the 11/40. Technically, on any UNIBUS machine; on the /40, the EIS (added instructions, not the device model of the EAE) was available via an optional board in the CPU. Noel

6 years, 12 months

3
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Plane of core memory

by blstuart＠bellsouth.net

On Thu, 4/18/19, dwight via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > My understanding was that the mercury delay lines > needed periodic repairs ( not sure what the cause > was but mercury does dissolve into many metals ). > If I were going to make a delay line memory, I'd go with > the magnetostrictive. These are practical to make. One just > needs a little ingenuity and a spool of piano wire. > Dwight Or still do a fluid one, but take Turing's suggestion and use gin as the medium. BLS

6 years, 12 months

2
1
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PDP-11/83 w/FPU?

by w2hx＠w2hx.com

?Hi friends. I am putting together a PDP-11 set up. i have a few CPUs available to me, a 11/23+, an 11/73 and I also have available to me an 11/83, M8190-AE . I would like to try to run as many different OS's as may interest me, including some unixes as possible (bsd...etc). My question is, are there any OSes that need the floating point option? Another question is, would I see any improvement in performance with the FPU compared to without it? Or does the application running need to be something like fortran to see any perceivable difference? Thanks

6 years, 12 months

6
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Testing...

by cctalk＠gtaylor.tnetconsulting.net

...cctalk digest mark as read. -- Grant. . . . unix || die

6 years, 12 months

1
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Pleas ID this IBM system....

by h.j.stegeman＠hccnet.nl

Hi William, I contacted the seller and asked for the docs. He returned some pics with a pile of BBB's. Regards Henk www.ibmsystem3.nl

6 years, 12 months

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ATEX PDP-11 For Sale in Houston

by tsraguso＠gmail.com

I am selling an Atex PDP-11/34. The computer has: J11 CPU, 11 MB RAM, 2 BA11-LE expansion chassis, a second backplane, an SMD disk controller and LAN hardware. Items are all untested, sold as-is. Local pickup is preferred, but I will consider shipping freight. Please make an offer on the whole machine, or any piece of it.

6 years, 12 months

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Adding floppy drives to my PDP-11?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Charles Morris > it appears that the RXV21 will only work with an RX02 drive... So an RX02 can be jumpered to work with the non-DMA RXV11; but the DMA RXV21 can't be configured to work with an RX01. Which of these two is a more interesting/useful thing to be able to do? People at MIT used to theorize the existence of a virulent biological virus, 'Honeywell Brain Damage'; I wonder if there's a DEC mutation? > Just wondering what my options are for hooking up any kind of floppy > drives. I could sell the RXV21 and buy/trade for an RXV11 (M7946) > instead Those used to be fairly common on eBay for not many dineros; I only see one moderately expensive one at the moment, though. I'd definitely go this way, though - maybe Paul A has one available? Noel

6 years, 12 months

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Dilog CQ1610 switch settings?

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

I have a Dilog CQ-1610 serial line card (16 ports!) that I'd either like to sell, or at least put it in my backplane and play with it since I have a copy of TSX+ :) But I can't find any info, especially the DIP switch settings. All I see is "emulates a Unibus DH-11" but that is not even close for hardware/layout. Any thoughts? thanks Charles

6 years, 12 months

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"arx-149" computer. .. what Is?

by couryhouse＠aol.com

It is in a? metal? suitcase appears? to? be? military analog? computer Ed! In a message dated 4/15/2019 11:52:41 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On 4/14/2019 5:44 PM, Sam O'nella via cctalk wrote: > Is there a specific reference you have for this? > > Sent from my Apple /////c > >> On Apr 14, 2019, at 2:16 AM, ED SHARPE via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: >> >> "arx-149"? computer. .. what Is?thanks ed# > I'd like to know too. I never could quite understand just what Marvin The Martian said. " The *** 32 * **** um *space ** xx ** later *, :)

6 years, 12 months

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"arx-149" computer. .. what Is?

by couryhouse＠aol.com

"arx-149" ? computer. .. what Is?thanks ed#

6 years, 12 months

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DELQA?

by aaron＠aaronsplace.co.uk

Unsurprisingly the DEQNA card in my PDP-11/73 is quite unstable and results in 2.11BSD panicing. Is there anything that can be done about this? Other than unplugging it that is... I don't think there very much broadcast traffic making its way to the PDP. It's usually when I'm transferring files. If not, does anyone have a DELQA card they would be willing to part with (preferably in the UK) for a sensible price? Thanks, Aaron. -- Aaron Jackson - M6PIU Researcher at University of Nottingham http://aaronsplace.co.uk/

6 years, 12 months

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FS: Qbus serial line cards

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

I ran this ad back in 2015, will try again :) I was going through my board collection and found three PDP-11 boards I've never used in years and don't see a foreseeable need. No idea of condition, but they're visually clean and neat, stored in antistatic bags. The serial cards came out of my working 11/23+ but I've not tested them (since I already have a 16-line card and only 2 terminals). I have (one each): M7957 DZV11 Quad height 4-line serial card M8053 DMV11 "Microprogram Control" synchronous controller card (looks like it was intended for networking with 56k modems) Dilog CQ1610 16-line serial card. Make any reasonable offers. + shipping from US zip 65775. thanks Charles

6 years, 12 months

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Adding floppy drives to my PDP-11?

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

I have a PDP-11/23+ with two RL02's in a corporate cabinet but no floppy drives. Also an RXV21 (M8029) card. My PDP-8/A has RX01 drives, and I was hoping just to run the cable over to the -11 when I wanted to use floppies on it. But after some searching, it appears that the RXV21 will only work with an RX02 drive... Just wondering what my options are for hooking up any kind of floppy drives. I could sell the RXV21 and buy/trade for an RXV11 (M7946) instead, to use with the RX01 in the other rack. Or look for an RX02 that won't break the bank - but that won't fit in the corporate cabinet. I do have another cabinet but it's got other rack-mount gear in it at the moment. What about smaller drives (RX50? RX33?)... can those be interfaced to the 11/23+ Qbus? Other thoughts? thanks Charles

7 years

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Interesting article in Spectrum about IBM's System/360

by ce.murillosanchez＠gmail.com

Building the System/360 Mainframe Nearly Destroyed IBM https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/silicon-revolution/building-the-syst…

7 years

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Daisywhell typewriter emulating a TTY

by couryhouse＠aol.com

I? remember? in '79? ?a? KSR? Diablo? was? ?the? dream? KSR? printing? terminal? and? ?cost? like? ?3? grand? Oh? how? we? used? to? dream of having one of these? back then! We? do have? one in the museum's? collection...? although? ?have not attempted to power up? to use. Ed# In a message dated 4/10/2019 8:40:58 AM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On 4/10/19 8:16 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote: > On 04/10/2019 03:38 AM, GerardCJAT via cctalk wrote: >> I would like to emulate a TTY, using a daisywheel typewriter. >> > Well, there are Qume and Diablo.? Diablo was bought by Xerox, so some of > them carry that label. > Most of the stand-alone versions had serial (RS-232) ASCII interface. I've given a couple of the Diablo KSRs (that's what the Hitypes with the keyboard were known as).? I didn't care for them much--no immediacy of sound and keypress--the two seem unrelated. Daisywheel printers are incredibly difficult to get rid of--nobody wants to pay shipping.? I got rid of the last one by throwing in a complete system with it.? Still have a NEC Spinwriter mouldering away. --Chuck

7 years

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Control Console, but not PDP-10

by dr＠birkel.org

The PDP-10 Control Console sold for $3,650.00. Amazing! Now consider a DSKY. Currently at $27,500.00. Auction estimate: $60,000+ Great provenance! ?The DSKY that saved Apollo 14.? https://www.rrauction.com/bidtracker_detail.cfm?IN=5222 -----

7 years

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TeleVideo's MmmOST

by pat＠vax11.net

I've been adding a few more blog posts, and put up the first one on what (to me) makes TeleVideo actually interesting - their MmmOST client/server operating system. I hope to get more up soon, but I have a (somewhat lengthy) introduction based on what I've been able to learn about MmmOST: https://worldofvax.blogspot.com/2019/04/televideo-systems-part-v-mmmost.html I'm still looking for TS-800A's and TS-806/816's if anyone has some laying around. It'd be informative to get a real MmmOST service processor up and running. Pat

7 years

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Daisywhell typewriter emulating a TTY

by mark＠markesystems.com

On 4/10/19 8:16 AM, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote: > On 04/10/2019 03:38 AM, GerardCJAT via cctalk wrote: >> I would like to emulate a TTY, using a daisywheel typewriter. >> > Well, there are Qume and Diablo.? Diablo was bought by Xerox, so some of > them carry that label. > Most of the stand-alone versions had serial (RS-232) ASCII interface. The Diablo was the first one I thought of. I had one for some time, and it was very reliable and produced high quality output. Also much faster than the Teletype, and faster also than the TermiNet 300 I had at the same time. There's currently one on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/263756218024 ~~ Mark Moulding

7 years

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Daisywheel typewriter emulating a TTY

by james＠attfield.co.uk

>> Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2019 10:38:00 +0200 >> From: "GerardCJAT" <gerardcjat at free.fr> >> To: <cctech at classiccmp.org>, <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >> >> I would like to emulate a TTY, using a daisywheel typewriter. >> One immediately think : " Find an IBM Selectric, a Friden flexowriter or a like " >> But NO, I want something less complex, mechanical wise. >> That's why I want to investigate on daisywheel typewriters. >> I am aware of IBM Actionwriter and Triumph/Adler/Royal Gabriele 9009 that can be used >> as a printer with a dedicated interface BUT that is one way only : Printer only ! >> From my investigation, **** so far ***, KEYBOARD does not send ( upload ? ) any signals. >> ( or a special command code is required ?? ) >> Any suggestion for "others" daisywhell typewriters that could do >> OR someone already went this way ? >> OR any documentation ( even user's manual ) on the dedicated interface : >> ( IF 600 Computer Interface for Triumph/Adler/Royal Gabriele 9009 ) >> ( ???name??? for IBM Actionwriter ) I immediately thought - any reason a Diablo 1650 wouldn't do?

7 years

1
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Daisywhell typewriter emulating a TTY

by gerardcjat＠free.fr

I would like to emulate a TTY, using a daisywheel typewriter. One immediately think : " Find an IBM Selectric, a Friden flexowriter or a like " But NO, I want something less complex, mechanical wise. That's why I want to investigate on daisywheel typewriters. I am aware of IBM Actionwriter and Triumph/Adler/Royal Gabriele 9009 that can be used as a printer with a dedicated interface BUT that is one way only : Printer only ! >From my investigation, **** so far ***, KEYBOARD does not send ( upload ? ) any signals. ( or a special command code is required ?? ) Any suggestion for "others" daisywhell typewriters that could do OR someone already went this way ? OR any documentation ( even user's manual ) on the dedicated interface : ( IF 600 Computer Interface for Triumph/Adler/Royal Gabriele 9009 ) ( ???name??? for IBM Actionwriter )

7 years

6
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by cctalk＠ibm51xx.net

I rescued a LaserJet 4+ printer that I have been trying to restore. Initially everything seemed ok and it seemed as if there may be just a bit of an issue with paper pickup which I attributed to old paper in the tray. However, soon I started getting the accordion paper jam which led me to replacing all the rollers including the transfer roller. Now the paper flows freely! However, I am having a new problem with printing. When I print, the first 5-10 pages initially come out blank. The printer does not produce any errors or error codes. The blank pages are warm (not hot though) as expected out of a LJ. After closer inspection it seems that the pages are printed SUPER light and gradually get darker the more I use the printer continuously. Eventually the printer starts printing continuous crisp black pages like new. This is a whole page phenomenon (i.e. not gaps, missing areas, etc.). A picture of the effect can be seen on VFC at: www.vcfed.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=52120&d=1554074105 Sorry for the poor quality picture. Things I have checked/tried: 1. Using a brand new NOS toner (according to HP toner does not go bad as long as it was sealed - which this was) 2. Swapping the new transfer roller for the old one - same problem, I have to print out a bunch of pages until the printer starts acting normally. 3. I have checked the HV and an image is being transferred to the drum on the toner cartridge. 4. A visual inspection of the fuser shows it to be ok. Obviously this is happening printing demo pages so it has nothing to do with computer, OS, SW, drivers, etc. Anybody run into this before? Any ideas/suggestions. My Google fu turned up a bunch of discussions on the laser door not being aligned correctly but that would seem to be a more permanent issue i.e. unless you fixed the door no pages should print ever. Mine gets better on its own after a number of pages are printed. Plus the door and spring are fine - I checked them just in case. I tried posting on FixYourOwnPrinter.com but for whatever reason the site was not accepting the question. Any other forums you guys would recommend? TIA! -Ali

7 years

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