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

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

In the form of an estate sale. The first in a long while where I found anything interesting. In addition to buying a large box of 7400 and 4000 series chips, all with 1970's date codes, I got two vintage keyboards: http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/kb_pics/20181215_162104.jpg http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/kb_pics/20181215_162139.jpg The estate sale employees have no idea where the associated systems (if any) are. They did not see them during the sale preparation and have not sold them. I also got a manual and set of 8 inch floppies for "Unicorn Systems Software Tools For CP/M". Twenty floppies, all with factory labels, various libraries, utilities and documentation files. I have not made a careful study of them yet (I just got home with them an hour ago). Bill S. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

7 years, 4 months

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Looking for a home for most issues of BYTE Magazine

by john＠ziaspace.com

Thank you all for all of the interest. The first person who wrote me isn't far away at all and will give it a good home, so I'm going to go with him. While I'm fetching those, I'm going to make a list of other older hardware for which I'd like to find homes, so I'll post about that, and possibly about other magazines, in a week or so. Thanks! John

7 years, 4 months

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Data Electronics Incorporated (DEI) CMTD-300S2 tape drive manual

by microtechdart＠gmail.com

For view or download: http://bit.ly/2RZK28Q I came across this, and noticed that this early of a DEI model was not yet archived at http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dei I'm not sure that it is scanned to the requirements of bitsavers, but I don't have access to the original, so I offer this if it is usable or of interest to anyone here. I'll probably also post it on one of my sites, at http://QICreader.com I also just acquired this DEI 301034-2 QIC Tape Drive, and have begun to reverse-engineer it. https://ebay.to/2EjyxFn Best always, -- Thanks, AJ

7 years, 4 months

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Looking for a home for most issues of BYTE Magazine

by john＠ziaspace.com

Hi, all, I have a collection of most of BYTE Magazine from the beginning through about 1985. Instead of selling it on eBay, I'd rather find a home for it where people can enjoy it. I also have a small collection of other computer magazines from the late 1970s and early 1980s which I'd like to include. Does anyone know of any person or organization within a reasonable distance from southern California who might take these magazines and preserve them, instead of just selling them on eBay? Thanks! John -- I don't know which scares me more - that people adhere to the idea of an omnipotent being powerful enough to create the universe, but whose supposedly most cherished creation is a race modeled after himself which can't stop hurting and killing each other, or the idea that those same people cannot or will not consider the possibility that the universe is random and unfeeling, and it's up to us to create order and beauty out of chaos and entropy.

7 years, 4 months

9
14
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Core memory emulator using non volatile ram.

by elson＠pico-systems.com

On 12/15/2018 03:22 AM, Rod G8DGR via cctalk wrote: > I have an idea to produce an MM-8 clone using RAM that acts like core when turned off. > Can anybody suggest a chip that will do this? > > Any CMOS SRAM chips can do this, with a backup battery. I used a IS62WV6416DBLL in a project a while ago. I did not use in in battery-backed mode, but it could do that. You do have to make sure that any outputs from the memory are driven to the high-impedance state during power-off to prevent draining the battery. Jon

7 years, 4 months

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Core memory emulator using non volatile ram.

by bobalan＠sbcglobal.net

On 12/15/2018 1:22 AM, Rod G8DGR via cctalk wrote: > I have an idea to produce an MM-8 clone using RAM that acts like core when turned off. > Can anybody suggest a chip that will do this? > > Rod Smallwood > > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > I used Everspin MRAM chips for my PDP-8e memory cards. It's just like SRAM, fast at 35 ns, and unlimited read/write endurance. Only drawback is it's 3.3 volts only. I just used level converters. It's a magnetoresistive memory, feels just like core. $12 for a 64K x 16 chip at Digikey. Bob -- Vintage computers and electronics www.dvq.com www.tekmuseum.com www.decmuseum.org

7 years, 4 months

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Core memory emulator using non volatile ram.

by pbirkel＠gmail.com

Perhaps Cypress FM1808 (32Kx8). Obsolete, but available on eBay. SOP for a bit of extra challenge! -----Original Message----- From: cctech [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Rod G8DGR via cctech Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2018 4:22 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Core memory emulator using non volatile ram. I have an idea to produce an MM-8 clone using RAM that acts like core when turned off. Can anybody suggest a chip that will do this? Rod Smallwood Sent from Mail for Windows 10

7 years, 4 months

5
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Core memory emulator using non volatile ram.

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

I have an idea to produce an MM-8 clone using RAM that acts like core when turned off. Can anybody suggest a chip that will do this? Rod Smallwood Sent from Mail for Windows 10

7 years, 4 months

1
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Documation card readers for sale

by ball.of.john＠gmail.com

About six months ago I struck a deal with a place down in California for four Documation M1000's that I've been able to tell so far they all work but I really don't have space for more than one. I've been trying to sell them at a loss for months now over on the Vintage Computer Forums and Nekochan (if you got here you'll find pictures) but no bites. I swear there were people out there that were looking. Where did you folks go? Might anyone here be interested? I absolutely refuse to put them on the curb. -John

7 years, 4 months

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Latest batch of goodies from Sellam's VWoCW plus 10% off!

by sellam.ismail＠gmail.com

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, folks! And holiday greetings to the rest of us celebrating Festivus! It's time to treat yourself or your favorite nerd for the holidays, so as my gift to you I'm offering 10% off anything with a listing date prior to 2018. Check the "Date Added" column in the warehouse item listings--anything listed in 2016-2017 is 10% off!. If you're a previous buyer (I know who you are) the 10% off applies to anything! Here is the latest batch of listings: Xerox 6085 "Daybreak" CPU Xerox 6085 IOP Input-Output Processor (C4) board Xerox ViewPoint 2.0 Software Installation Xerox ViewPoint 2.0 Documentation Set (Volumes 1-6) Xerox Desktop Publishing Series: Ventura Publisher Edition manuals Xerox Telecopier 7032/7033 Facsimile Terminal User Handbook Connect Computer Z183-2 WonUnder II Western Digital VGA Plus C Future Domain Corp TMC-830 Iomega PC2B SCSI Controller Iomega PC2B50F SCSI Controller Orchid ProDesigner VGA Silicon Graphics O2 Workstation IBM Type 7208-001 External 2.3GB 8mm Tape Drive BM BM-401 486 CPU Breakout Adaptor Compaq DeskPro DSM Monitor HP 2641A/2645A/2645S Display Station Reference Manual HP 2647A Graphics Terminal Manual Set HP 13290A/2649A Data Terminal Reference Manual Advanced Gravis Ultra Sound (boxed) Universal Data Systems 212 LP Modem (boxed) You can get to the Virtual Warehouse of Computing Wonders main index to find links to these and many others items here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I53wxarLHlNmlPVf_HJ5oMKuab4zrApI_hi… As always, please contact me directly by e-mail via <sellam.ismail at gmail.com> to make an order or an offer. Thanks! Sellam

7 years, 4 months

1
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Researching IBM rare equipment from 50s to 80s

by peter＠vanpeborgh.eu

Fellow geeks of more mature vintage, Do any of you guys know whether it is possible to find out to whom any IBM equipment was sold back in the day? (Still chasing IBM 2321 Data Cell - I never learn!) Many thanks, peter || | | | | | | | | Peter Van Peborgh 62 St Mary's Rise Writhlington Radstock Somerset BA3 3PD UK 01761 439 234 || | | | | | | | |

7 years, 4 months

6
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Documation TM200 card reader - pinch roller restoration

by guykd＠optusnet.com.au

Previously: Manual for Documation TM200 punched card reader Restoration of the mechanics of my TM200 punch card reader progresses. There's a writeup here: http://everist.org/NobLog/20180922_data_in_holes.htm#tm200 Currently I'm machining a mold to cast new pinch rollers - and there's the rub (ok kill me.) The old rubber rollers were decayed to gunk, so there's no chance of measuring their original dimensions. >From the mechanics, if they were just touching the steel capstan rollers they'd have been 27.1 mm Dia. The mechanics has no adjustment or spring tension on the pinch roller positions. Their shafts are in fixed position, so all the spring is in the rubber of the rollers. Someone who recalls seeing one of these working, says the rubber rollers turned while the capstans turned, so they must have been actually pressing on them. But how much squish? Experimenting with a similar diameter silicone roller (from a photocopier) it semes like 0.2mm of 'squish' without a card, seems to give a good grip on a card. The cards are 0.1mm thick. That gives a resting roller diameter of 27.5 mm. Obviously too much 'squish' is undesirable since the roller would get permanently deformed when left idle in one position. The 2-part silicone I'll be using for first try at casting rollers has a cured Shore A durometer rating of 60. I'm hoping someone might have some knowledge of how much punch card reader pinch rollers should press against capstans. Does 0.2mm squish seem right, or am I way off? I can try multiple iterations, boring the mold out a little more to make the rollers bigger. But it would be nice to get it right first time. I don't yet have a TM200 manual, but the M200 manuals seem to cover pretty much identical mechanics. They give no dimensions for the rubber rollers, no mention of the contact pressure, or even diagnosing if the rollers are worn. There are significant differences in the electronics between the M200 and the TM200. I'm really going to need a manual with schematics once I get to debugging and interfacing the electronics. Bitsavers only has M200 manuals, and Al Kossow doesn't seem to have had any luck with > I'm pretty sure I just saw a paper copy of the TM200 manual > which is different from the M200. I'll have to dig around to > try to find it again. If anyone can suggest a source. I'd like to buy a paper copy. Which I'll scan and post at bitsavers etc. Guy

7 years, 4 months

4
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AMD Am8177 Datasheet

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Kyle Owen > Gah...just found it. We've all been there... :-) Noel

7 years, 4 months

5
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AMD Am8177 Datasheet

by kylevowen＠gmail.com

Does anyone have a datasheet for an Am8177 shift register? Seems to be ECL. Thanks, Kyle

7 years, 4 months

1
1
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NCR aka NATIONAL 304 Computer - any left in physical form?

by couryhouse＠aol.com

NCR aka NATIONAL 304 Computer - any left in physical form? ? Thanks? ? Ed#? ?www.smecc.org?

7 years, 4 months

1
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Manual sources

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

Well, as I am sure many of you know, ManualsPlus was "acquired" by the Internet Archive. This story captures the effort: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/introducing-the-arch… Jim Tucker is still selling things on ebay. When we'll see the manuals from the archive, who knows?

7 years, 4 months

4
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IBM 3850 cartridge

by peter＠vanpeborgh.eu

Do any of you more venerable IBM types know of a way to open one of these to extract the tape contained inside? It looks a bit fiddly but there might be a trick to it. (Apart from having the mass storage system itself.) Many thanks to you for your information and also to Mr Kossow who kindly let me have some of these. Peter vp || | | | | | | | | Peter Van Peborgh 62 St Mary's Rise Writhlington Radstock Somerset BA3 3PD UK 01761 439 234 || | | | | | | | |

7 years, 4 months

2
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Labtool48 Programmer

by holm＠freibergnet.de

Hi all, I've got an Advantech Labtool48 parallel Port Programmer lately for fifty bucks. I've got it w/o any Software, cable or documentation and now I have a few questions. 1. Is the parallel Cable a straight one to one Cable? The Labtool48 has an male connector on the back so a standard cable wouldn't fit.. (ok, think I can reverse engeneer or at least try that if needed..) 2. This isn't a Labtool48UXP, the UXP Version seems to have an USB connector additionally, doesn anyone know if the Software that Advantech provides (http://www.aec.com.tw/software_files/LT48UXP_83203.exe) will work with the Labrtool48? 3. I want to programm Altera PLD's EPM7160LC84. On many sites on the web can be read that Advantech is providing an PDF with the required "pin swapping Table" so the user can build adapters himselves..this seems to be history, the link http://www.aec.com.tw/products/adapters.pdf is dead and the wayback machine shows that it is dead for many years. Doens someone has possibly a copy of this pdf? TIA, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Freiberger Stra?e 42, 09600 Obersch?na, USt-Id: DE253710583 info at tsht.de Fax +49 3731 74200 Tel +49 3731 74222 Mobil: 0172 8790 741

7 years, 4 months

1
0
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SunOS 2.4 Exploit

by seefriek＠gmail.com

I believe SunOS 2.4 is old enough all you need to do is delete the password hash from /etc/passwd to log in without a password. KJ

7 years, 4 months

3
2
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Manual sources

by guykd＠optusnet.com.au

At 01:14 PM 12/12/2018 -0800, you wrote: >Well, as I am sure many of you know, ManualsPlus was "acquired" by the Internet Archive. >This story captures the effort: >https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/introducing-the-arch… Read it more carefully. Also no, it wasn't. Maybe 1/10 the manuals were 'saved', but that means stacked in moving boxes in storage. Definitely not accessible, not for sale, indexing almost certainly lost. Also, it's about time to check what ultimately happened to them. And don't give me that 'they will get scanned' line. No they won't, and anyway I don't consider digital copies to be valid historical preservation for posterity. No matter what the scan quality (which is almost invariably inadequate anyway.) >Jim Tucker is still selling things on ebay. >When we'll see the manuals from the archive, who knows? What's the bet 'never'? Also, by 'see' I'd prefer 'see, holding an original in my hands.' With the demise of manuals wharehouse/sellers like ManualsPlus that's become MUCH more unlikely. Incidentally, if anyone happens to be near Finksberg, MD, it would be great to get an update on what happened with the building. Is it now some other business? Or demolished/redeveloped? Or just sitting there abandoned? (I'm an urbex enthusiast, I always like to follow the history of old buildings, especially if they become abandonments.) Relevant to claims that the ManualsPlus lease was $10K/month. Really curious to know if that was true. Photos please? Apologies for the following wall-o-text dump. Just for the record. ------------------------------------------------------- On the loss of ManualsPlus. Closed Aug 2015. Manuals Plus. 2002 Bethel Rd, Suite 105 Finksberg, MD. Phone 410-871-1555. Fax 410-871-1255 em: sales at manualsplus.com web: www.manualsplus.com Google maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/2002+Bethel+Rd+%23105,+Finksburg,+MD+2104… This: F:\__Equip_info\!_GKD_Lists\ManualsPlus_demise See also: Z \__Libraries_destroyed\20150816_ManualsPlus (the saved flickr pics are there.) ---------------- 20141221 http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/manualsplus-going-out-of-business/ 20150815 http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/4683 Original 'ASCII by Jason Scott' (low bandwidth cap) Same, at archive.org: https://web.archive.org/web/20150815114528/http://ascii.textfiles.com/archi… (with pics) Manuals Plus Loadout - A visit to the Manuals Plus Warehouse, and an Army of Volunteers Clearing it Out. 155 photos. By: Jason Scott (2 pages. Painful saving pics) https://www.flickr.com/photos/textfiles/sets/72157657277241785 See pics on 2nd page - how much was left behind. Tragic. 20150816 An update from Jason. (From Aug 2015 onwards he has many updates.) http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/4695 20150816 http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/help-needed-to-archive-te-manuals/ (stub) 20150816 http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/rescue-mission-25-000-manuals-baltimore/?… 20150818 https://twitter.com/textfiles/with_replies In Realtime: We are barely halfway done http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/4711 20181213 via cctalk ManualsPlus was "acquired" by the Internet Archive. This story captures the effort: 20150901 https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/09/introducing-the-arch… (The few pics are from the flickr page above. Also the article is typical MSM spin.) My posts in eevblog - rescue-mission-25-000-manuals --------------------------------------------- http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/rescue-mission-25-000-manuals-baltimore/m… TerraHertz Posts: 3403 Country: au Why shouldn't we question everything? Re: Rescue mission - 25,000 manuals, Baltimore ? Reply #2 on: August 16, 2015, 11:16:05 am ? Dammit. This would be Manuals Plus. 2002 Bethel Rd, Suite 105 Finksberg, MD. Phone 410-871-1555. Fax 410-871-1255 em: sales at manualsplus.com web: www.manualsplus.com Google maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/2002+Bethel+Rd+%23105,+Finksburg,+MD+2104… They sent a flyer to customers (including me) last year announcing their impending going out of business. But then they were still listing on ebay long after the end date, so I'd assumed they'd changed their mind. Now suddenly it's "manuals being dumped in the trash" It's a tragedy, and should be criminal that they are dumpstering their manuals. Apparently with no attempt to advertise a giveaway. That counts as deliberate, premeditated destruction of cultural and technological treasures. Along the lines of destruction of libraries. (Btw, google that. It's happening a lot lately in a deliberate program by a certain group.) Hopefully it's not Becky doing the dumping. She is a very nice lady, and appreciates the worth of the manuals. I can't believe she'd do it, even if her boss told her to. That there was no flyer about the actual closure suggests Becky is no longer employed there. I don't know who the business owner is, but I'd certainly like some time 'alone with him.' I'm in Australia, or I'd be there with a semi and filling up shipping containers. WHHHY can't they donate them to an organization able to store them and give them away? I really do think that destroying these old and in some cases unique and irreplaceable manuals should be a crime. People should go there and recover the already dumpstered manuals. And shout abuse at the people doing the dumping. Maybe something involving iron bars and two by fours wouldn't be amiss either. The guy that decided to shut the business down without organizing for the manuals to be saved, deserves a very unpleasant fate. No, the crappy quality scans available online of *some* of these manuals do not count as 'preservation for posterity.' The idea that there are already adequate electronic copies of all these physical manuals is delusional. A similar thing happened in Australia with a manuals company called High Country Service Data, about 20 years ago. They had a warehouse of service manuals, including many from early Australian electronics companies like BWD. Recently I discovered they had 'gone digital' - had all their manuals scanned (with the very crap scanning technology of the time) then destroyed their entire physical archive. I literally wept. No, I don't want to buy your pathetic digital low quality copies, thanks very much. A*hole. Notice on google maps that the building is situated in a semi-rural area. Also ManualsPlus is just one unit of that old factory complex. How much can the storage costs be? Combined with the absence of any giveaway attempt makes me suspect the decision to destroy the manuals may be motivated more by an actual desire to destroy them, than by commercial reasons. So far as I know Becky was the only employee, and she always seemed to be worked off her feet with manuals sales. I can't type words expressing my feelings about this, since this is an all-ages forum. But a lot of them begin with F and C. Edit to add: Darnit. I wanted to save the article pics from http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/4683 as a record of this cultural crime. But now the site is "Bandwidth limit exceeded". Sigh. It will probably stay that way a while. So I have to go grubbing in caches. -------------------- http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/rescue-mission-25-000-manuals-baltimore/m… Re: Rescue mission - 25,000 manuals, Baltimore ? Reply #5 on: August 16, 2015, 11:47:41 am ? Quote from: nctnico on August 16, 2015, 11:22:15 am @TerraHertz: Did it occur to you that they are going out of business because nobody wants the manuals? Your argument is invalid, and merely demonstrates that *you* don't want them. How many people buy ebay'd old gear? Did you actually look at ManualsPlus prices? Quote I'm sure there will be couple of manuals in the collection which are sought after by people trying to maintain old gear but they really don't want to spend $75 for a manual for a piece of equipment they got for $10. You are strawman arguing, and should know better. Not 'a couple', but many thousands of manuals. $75 is way too high, and $10 is 1 to 3 orders of magnitude too low for typical worthwhile bits of old gear. Also, speak to any historian about whether current commercial value is a true measure of historic value. Quote The golden days for service manuals are over because service manuals don't exist anymore. Ha ha, fine example of circular logic there. But the last phrase is precisely correct. Service manuals don't exist anymore. Are you saying that is a good thing? One of the ways in which these manuals are precious, is as a physical demonstration of what good technical documentation should be. To hold up against and shame present day outrageous lack of anything similar. And such examples are not useful if there's just ONE copy in some library somewhere. They need to be held in many copies across a population to have any effect. Every kid learning electronics should personally experience manuals like these, to make them question why present day manufacturers don't produce such things. To show them the benefits of having tech companies run by honest engineers working for the good of society, rather than by a bunch of soulless marketing droids and lawyers. ---------------------- http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/rescue-mission-25-000-manuals-baltimore/m… Re: Rescue mission - 25,000 manuals, Baltimore ? Reply #10 on: August 16, 2015, 12:23:33 pm ? Quote from: tautech on August 16, 2015, 12:11:24 pm Quote from: Deathwish on August 16, 2015, 12:07:23 pm I refuse to pay for manuals, why should I scan mine and give them free as I have always done for some ingrate to then sell it on ebay. That's what the FREE manual respository websites are for, upload your obscure manual to make it available to the masses for free. Pretty sure he was just trolling. FWIW, here's the flyer from ManualsPlus in Dec 2014. I bought a few manuals as a result, but was/am too poor to go on a real splurge. Even given cheap shipping via shipito, and that ManualsPlus prices were always reasonable and Becky was being extra generous during the sale. Also I'm pretty sure I mentioned their impending closure here, but didn't save a link to the thread. Where are all the rich philanthropists, who could easily afford to organize a warehouse and one or two staff for this? Considering some of the stupid things people donate millions to, inability to get this done seems really sad. Btw, did anyone save the pics from the original article? ------------------------ http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/rescue-mission-25-000-manuals-baltimore/m… Re: Rescue mission - 25,000 manuals, Baltimore ? Reply #13 on: August 16, 2015, 12:55:03 pm ? Quote from: Deathwish on August 16, 2015, 12:27:56 pm I was not trolling anyone thank you. I have always scanned what manuals I have and given them freely, I have even seen one or two then being sold against my wishes on ebay, it rankles and annoys me that people who will offer help to save a collection will then suddenly decide hey why shouldn't you pay for what I got free in the understanding i got them for nothing to save them for others to have freely. Sorry then. Sometimes with your sense of humor it's hard to tell. (But I do enjoy your shenanigans.) The original article at http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/4683 is now 'bandwidth exceeded'. But it was saved today and available at archive.org: https://web.archive.org/web/20150815114528/http://ascii.textfiles.com/archi… (with pics) There's also "full photos from today?s shoot" here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/textfiles/sets/72157657277241785 Incidentally, that info about 'lease expired, can't justify cost of relocating' is a teeny bit suspect. That's not what I recall Becky saying in email to me early this year. I'll see if I can find that. --------------------------- http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/rescue-mission-25-000-manuals-baltimore/m… Re: Rescue mission - 25,000 manuals, Baltimore ? Reply #16 on: August 16, 2015, 01:29:03 pm ? Quote from: eas on August 16, 2015, 01:01:47 pm Sounds like the Jason Scott already has some connection with Archive.org. The short term issue is sorting, hauling everything off and storing it until they can come up with a plan for archiving it. What sorting? It's already neatly sorted and indexed. The hard part would be preserving that during a move. Anyone in the US able to think of a way someone could put a legal hold on the destruction? Quote As for burning libraries, I think someone else started doing that about, oh 2000 years ago? Oh yes, there's a long tradition of barbarism regarding libraries, much further back even than 2000 years. It's just lately there seems to be a new style. No flames and swords, same end result. I can't mention by whom and why here. But you can probably find out what I mean via google. Incidentally it's a practice I've seen with my own eyes, being done by the specific group (who we can't mention.) The whole "who needs physical books, digital copies are all we need" bullshit meme seems to go hand in hand with the stealth barbarism. But there's a very sound reason why paper copies are superior in a critical way, that overrides all other considerations - You can't expunge/corrupt/rewrite them. Either by accident ( see http://everist.org/NobLog/20131122_an_actual_knob.htm#jbig2 re JBIG2 faulty compression ), or deliberately - say hypothetically some group were intent on obliterating the technological heritage of Western Civilization. Quote I really hope they are checking printings/dates/revisions when eliminating "duplicates." I would bet money that isn't happening. (Ha ha, if I had any. But then, I'm certain I'd win the bet, so...) ------------------------ http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/rescue-mission-25-000-manuals-baltimore/m… Re: Rescue mission - 25,000 manuals, Baltimore ? Reply #24 on: August 17, 2015, 12:18:50 am ? Quote from: nctnico on August 16, 2015, 05:51:30 pm Yes. I think I bought a couple of manuals from them in the past. You can argue all you want but running a business requires paying customers. Paying customers requires offering a service which customers would pay money for. Going out of business means there are not enough paying customers which in turn means the service provided is no longer wanted. You keep assuming they are 'going out of business due to lack of sales'. That's not the case at all. The article states it's due to loss of the lease, and not being able to justify the cost of relocating. I know from conversations with Becky (the sole staff) that she was always working non-stop. And I'm not sure about that lease stuff. So far I can't find the emails, but I'm pretty sure she said it was just the owner deciding to shut down. A decision made in Dec 2014 or earlier. Then the failure to advertise over the last 8 months to see if they could get any takers for the entire collection, so now they would dumptser them, that's barely believable. Quote I also agree with the other person about not being able to browse through their collection. That made Manualsplus invisible to Google. If they addressed that earlier they could probably have survived an extra couple of years. Yes, I agree the website was bad. More incompetence from the owner. But again, it wasn't 'lack of business' according to them. It was loss of the lease. Quote from: timb on August 16, 2015, 10:42:15 pm I'm only a couple of hours from Maryland. I've got access to a 42' flatbed and copious amounts of climate controlled storage. I'd be glad to take all the manuals off their hands (and scan them as a long term project). Well, here are their contact details again. Manuals Plus. 2002 Bethel Rd, Suite 105 Finksberg, MD. Phone 410-871-1555. Fax 410-871-1255 em: sales at manualsplus.com web: www.manualsplus.com Google maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/2002+Bethel+Rd+%23105,+Finksburg,+MD+2104… Please phone them. Now. Also contact Jason Scott and work out some cooperation with him. Main thing would be to stop them dumping manuals off the shelves till you have time to work out how to move them while maintaining sort order. Also they will have an index and ordering system on computer - you'll need that too. See if you can find out who the building owner is, and talk to them. Are they _really_ terminating the lease? Maybe that story is true, maybe it isn't. Would be good to know for sure. As opposed to, say Tektronix or Agilent/Siglint or whatever they call themselves now, passing someone a few thousand bucks to eliminate a library of manuals, thinking they might sell a few more new instruments if manuals for older gear are unavailable. Just a thought. ----------------------------- http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/rescue-mission-25-000-manuals-baltimore/m… Re: Rescue mission - 25,000 manuals, Baltimore ? Reply #27 on: August 17, 2015, 12:15:55 pm ? Quote from: woodchips on August 17, 2015, 04:21:30 am I know nothing about the ins and outs of why they are closing. I have been an occasional customer over the years but postage to the UK isn't cheap. I heard about the closure and hopefully in the next week or so will arrive boxes 5 and 6 of the sale manuals. I think I might now have spent more on postage than manuals with the discount on these last boxes. Thanks Becky. I've been a long term customer too. Also bought what I could afford after hearing of the shutdown. But it wasn't anything like what I wanted to buy. I'm poor atm, though that won't last forever. Quote Look at the various threads, buy a Rigol and stuff anything more than 5 years old? My manuals were mostly boring, Tek 7000 stuff and similar, but ManualsPlus had originals, and I an tired of rubbish copies and it was worth the cost to buy and ship them across the pond. My view is that at least some people should keep test gear that is repairable, as opposed to contemporary gear which isn't. As a 'just in case' precaution, for potential economic and therefore technological regression scenarios. Also as a collector of old gear partly for the historical interest, it seems stupid to have the gear, but not the original manual, which is part of the aesthetic. And in addition, I find electronic copies pathetic and nearly unusable in a practical sense, even if the quality is good. Which it so frequently isn't. Nothing beats having the stack of paper large foldout schematics. Quote This is a very common occurance now in my experience, no one is interested in older things, generally, it is all apparently on the internet. Yes, and do you know the history of fads and manias? Who can be sure the Internet is going to last forever in its current form? It's only been around what, 20 years so far. This is not sufficient basis to predict eternal availability. Are you aware of moves by the fascists in the US government, to legislate 'sharing of technical information on the net' into a 'terrorist crime'? Seriously... Unbelievable, but it fits with those arseholes' mentalities. Quote I had a nice collection of electromechanical computers, mostly navigation equipment from aircraft, inertial gyros, air data computers, ground position indicators and similar. When I had to downsize it went for auction, would have got more at a scrap yard. Tragic. Did you offer it via places like this and the vintage computing forums? Or was that before you knew of them? Quote Similarly old books, 3rd edition Britannica, a Pantologia, runs of the AJS and similar, these are now valued just for the plates they contain, maps are best, the plate of yet another bridge is used to light the fire. It has taken me years to to actually accept that the things I spent so much time and money on acquiring are now worthless. You're making a big mistake. The same made by many people, which results in relics being so very rare after a few decades. You're allowing yourself to be conditioned by the prevailing view that monetary value of the moment, is equivalent to moral worth. This is a falsehood. You should decide what value is, within your own moral code. F*ck opinions of others to the contrary. Quote I have ST412 working disc drives, no interest, scrapped, similarly with much other computer stuff. No one now has the space to store this stuff, and museums don't seem interested either. Sob. More tragedy. I'd have taken all that stuff. Incidentally, this 'no one has the space' is not just by accident, it's the result of deliberate social manipulation, intended to disempower the majority of the population. A deliberate side effect of the way the economic system is structured at the moment. Quote I am pleased that I bought the manuals I did from MP, and they will be used and appreciated. But they will also go for recycling when I die. How soon will that be do you think? Any chance you could put me down in your will, to take whatever techno-relics you still have? I'm totally serious, please PM me if you'll consider it. I'm 60 now, will be around a while yet. See http://everist.org/NobLog/ I have a lot of Tek 7000 series stuff, but mostly not yet recommissioned due to the sequencing of getting my workshop set up. Quote what is a 7T11? In the end I had a choice, pay MP for the manuals and postage, or keep that money in my savings account. All the others who complain about the manuals being dumped perhaps should have put some money where their mouth is, and bought a couple of thousand $ worth when they could. I did. So did I, but it wasn't anywhere near that much. The timing is what bugs me. In the next year or so, I'll likely be forced to sell my current large property due to a zoning change. (http://everist.org/no-rezone/ hmmm... needs an update.) I expect to end up with more than enough to rebuild in the country somewhere, including a *much bigger* workshop, and live comfortably. One of the items on my 'new workspace' requirements list, is a _large_ library space. Medium scale library. I wish MP had waited to shut down till that was set up. --------------------------------- http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/rescue-mission-25-000-manuals-baltimore/m… Re: Rescue mission - 25,000 manuals, Baltimore ? Reply #36 on: August 18, 2015, 05:37:05 pm ? Quote from: Tothwolf on August 18, 2015, 11:14:25 am Quote from: TerraHertz on August 16, 2015, 01:29:03 pm Quote I really hope they are checking printings/dates/revisions when eliminating "duplicates." I would bet money that isn't happening. (Ha ha, if I had any. But then, I'm certain I'd win the bet, so...) You guys need to watch what you say. Becky is aware of this thread and had been following it. As for duplicate sorting, according to Becky, Jason and others have been hard at work. Hi Becky! (Guy D from Sydney here.) I still bet 'duplicate culling' (not sorting, they are ALREADY sorted) isn't happening in any adequate sense. Revision and serial number comparison is *hard* and there's no way it could be done for that archive in the time available. Especially not while also maintaining overall sort order and catalog to shelf grid references. Also even if it was, it's still a tragedy, since the purpose of the the 'save & move' would ideally be to keep the manuals in this collection available for future purchasers. Which I don't expect will be possible, and that makes me feel ill. Both on principle and because it makes my future equipment life harder. It's like watching a priceless library burn, and nothing I can do about it. Feel like I want to kill someone. Not Becky or the volunteers! Three cheers for their effort. The owner, maybe, depending on what the actual situation is. How come this got left to the last minute? Or perhaps the building owner. Or maybe a bunch of bankers, for creating a debt-riddled system in which a business like ManualsPlus can't own its own premises clear of debt, and have no overheads beyond water, power and maybe land rates. There seems to be a lot of 'save only one copy of each for scanning' attitude going on here. You can guess what I think of that. Current scanning and encoding file formats are NOT ADEQUATE! There'll be better schemes in future, but till then save all the physical copies, in as many hands as possible to prevent this kind of mass loss. But, since I can't help or influence in any way, who cares what I think. Quote towards their USD $10,000 a month building lease. I still wish it was possible to do some checking of background details to this. Is "$10K/month" for that not particularly big space in an old subdivided factory in semi-rural area sensible? I don't know, but it does seem a bit hard to believe. Did the lease actually 'get lost'? How & why, given there's not exactly a huge swell in demand for industrial real estate in the USA these days. Who owns the building, and what's their story? I know I'll never see answers to these questions, which makes me feel even more ill about the whole thing, ------------------------------- 20150902 http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/whats-your-work-benchlab-look-like-post-s… My comments re destruction of ManualsPlus Re: Whats your Work-Bench/lab look like? Post some pictures of your Lab. Quote from: Rupunzell on September 02, 2015, 03:54:47 pm That file cabinet of service manuals and the other over stuffed book shelf of data books are going no where. These are valuable archives of not only devices from years gone by, they are part of the history of science and technology. There are data books going back to the early 1970's and to the time when semi companies mostly stopped publishing them. Each year at work, there would be a boxes of new data books that would appear. Some would stay at work, some followed me home. Service manuals would appear at the swap and lease where, they would not sell for much at all and often service manuals would appear by the box full and the seller insisted on the buyer taking the entire box, not just one. There are a number of independent cal labs in and near SV that have very extensive libraries of service manuals. They offer paper copies upon request with a modest fee. Photocopies, you mean. Which may be 'usable', but are worthless in the historical sense. Nothing beats having an original. Quote Many of the more popular instruments from that era can be found on the web, but not any where near all that was available from that time. Much the same applies to semiconductor and numerous other electronics devices. This is why I have kept these vintage data books and catalogs as more often than not, this information can be so very valuable. Tell me about it. From my own experiences of acquiring old gear then trying to find adequate manuals, I know very well how spotty the online archives are. (And much of what there is, are appallingly bad quality.) Also electronics data books - this is one area in which the 'it's all online, so just dumpster your physical books' delusion is particularly active. Maybe half my library of data books are from people I knew who decided to toss theirs. I'll NEVER dump mine. They're easier to read than PDFs, you get reminded of other chips, the books are complete with lots of related stuff, and many other reasons why they are superior. Quote There is SO much that can be learned from those hewlett packard, Tektronix, Systron Donner, Gigatronics, Fluke and many other's service manuals that is not often appreciated. Some of the very best circuit and systems designers I know spent years of their youth studying what was in these service manuals and learning what made these instruments work and why. Two of well known individuals who spent a LOT of time studying these service manuals and tinkering with test gear from this era are Jim Williams & Bob Dobkin. Stories of other with a similar history can be found on the Analog footsteps blog page: http://analogfootsteps.blogspot.com/search/label/Bob%20Dobkin This is the prime reason why there are often post form me about saving and repairing instrumentation from this golden era. There is a LOT more than just the math to fully understanding how a circuit and it's environment behaves as a unit system. Spending time with these instruments can be an excellent teaching and learning experience. Yes indeed, I see you are a man after my own heart. I also have the view that these works are not just a history, but a critical resource should there be any kind of civilization glitch. Most people believe such ideas are silly, but that is just a bad case of normalcy bias. I know from my study of human history (and academic studies like Tainter's 'The collapse of complex societies') that such collapses are the norm in the human story, not the exception. Good luck using 'online pdfs' after a decade or two (or 20, or 100) of no power, fuel or technical education system. A great deal of the technical foundation of our society has zero adequately preserved 'seed bank of knowledge.' Those service manuals from the 60s through early 90s (before the lawyers and bean counters put a stop to that) are a unique treasure, in the way they detail everything about how the instruments worked. And on paper, that can last hundreds of years if simply kept dry and safe from the elements. Which doesn't require high tech efforts, unlike say maintaining a bank of hard disks and their regular replacement. Also, and this is very important - ink on paper can't be edited and deliberately corrupted or expunged. If it's there, it's original and true. Something that can't be relied on with digital copies. If you think deliberate 'historical revision' doesn't happen with digital media, you are not paying attention. It happens all the time with film and music for instance. For those who were wondering why I was spitting mad about ManualsPlus being trashed, this is why. I consider that event a kind of vandalism against the foundations of civilization itself. And no, 'saving one copy of each in rented storage', while slightly better than nothing, isn't good enough. I really do think some people should be shot for the destruction of that library. Not the victims, like Becky, or the people who tried hard and did what they could with inadequate resources. But definitely the business owner, for either incompetence or deliberate acts resulting in the destruction. Ah well. Centralization of anything is bad, since it exposes the thing to infiltration of control by those who would destroy it. In a hundred years, it's going to be printed collections of knowledge kept safe privately by people like Rupunzell that will have made a difference. Too bad there are so few who see the value. But I suppose that is the usual way by which things once relatively common become extremely rare (or completely lost) over time. ------------------------

7 years, 4 months

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BIG ol tektronix scope 555 - need it gone - make an offer

by guykd＠optusnet.com.au

At 08:34 AM 11/12/2018 -0800, Marc wrote: >That's a beautiful old scope setup. I have a friend who collects this >stuff but he is very low budget and on the opposite side of the country >like me. Heh. How about 'no budget, and opposite side of the world'? Do I win?

7 years, 4 months

1
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Genrad 2511 Vibration Control System

by aek＠bitsavers.org

bought this on eBay suspecting it was LSI-11 based because of the floppies labeled DY: https://www.ebay.com/itm//192437124163 It's kinda neat, has a very late (1989) AED WINC-05 disk controller in it, 11/73 and a bunch of custom daq boards. It also has a Dilog Qbus to Unibus converter (didn't even know they made one) and it appears all the custom boards are on the Unibus. I doubt I'll ever find docs for it though.

7 years, 4 months

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anyone seen this 11/70 panel on epay?

by tdk.knight＠gmail.com

iust noticed this apear on ebay if anyones looking for a 11/70 front panel https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Vintage-DEC-PDP-11-70-DataSystem-570-Computer-Front…

7 years, 4 months

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BIG ol tektronix scope 555 - need it gone - make an offer

by lyokoboy0＠gmail.com

More of a computer list I know, but I need to clean out and this needs to go soon. Big ol tektronix scope on a cart. Was part of a community workshop, i cleared out all their equipment and have not had the time to repair it. I was planning to go over it and put it to work at my desk, but i decided to get a bigger desk and don't have the space for it. i picked up a hp logic analyzer that fits on the desk, and is more than capable for working on my pdp 11 and other minicomputer stuff. open to offers, come pick it up and its yours. https://i.postimg.cc/NFPC5cDG/scope-555.jpg located in Melbourne FL --Devin D.

7 years, 4 months

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cctalk Digest, Vol 51, Issue 10

by technoid6502＠gmail.com

Yes. Sunos 5.4, Solaris 2.4. I got and installed Solaris 2.6 to replace that, iirc. I also ran Netbsd and OpenBsd on that machine, preferring OpenBSD, iirc the video drivers worked best on the frambuffer I had which was the base model color board. This all happened in the year 2000 or thereabouts. Jeff

7 years, 4 months

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GCC for pdp11

by paulkoning＠comcast.net

Gentlepeople, Once in a while people ask about GCC. It has long had pdp11 support, but it hasn't received much attention. Recently I've done some cleanup on it, and some more is in the pipeline. One notable new feature is that it can now produce proper DEC Macro-11 syntax output. It has long had a -mdec-asm switch, but that used to produce GNU output. Now it produces DEC output (and -mgnu-asm is how you get output for "gas".) The optimizer is better, and a bunch of compiler failures are fixed. Undoubtedly there are more bugs to be worked on. Oh yes, for grins I told GCC to build not just a C compiler but a C++ and Fortran compiler as well. That seems to work (but I get an error building the libstdc++ library). I now have C++ translations of the RSTS standard header files common.mac and kernel.mac, and the DECnet definitions in netdef.sml. :-) If anyone wants to give this a try, the best way is to get the current code via Subversion (see gcc.gnu.org for details). Alternatively, get a weekly snapshot; the DEC support is in the current latest, though some optimizer work will appear in the next one. paul

7 years, 4 months

6
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Documation TM200 card reader - pinch roller restoration

by guykd＠optusnet.com.au

A quick update. Thanks to those who sent pics of intact rollers. Derived from those the correct pinch roller diameter is 27.20 mm. Notes here: http://everist.org/NobLog/20180922_data_in_holes.htm#rub It seems there's a few people who need new M200 rollers. Once/if I perfect a successful method of making replacements I'll offer them for postage and a few dollars. But I'm in Australia. Or, there's this guy in the USA: http://www.terrysrubberrollers.com/ Now the correct OD is known he's an alternative, with real rubber. (Maybe my end result will be rubber too. That remains to be seen.) I still haven't found a service manual for the TM200 (with schematics.) Guy

7 years, 4 months

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Seeking info for Cardamation parallel-serial board for card reader

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

I have finally begun working with the card reader I picked up at a VCF some years back. Mechanically, it's sound, and the rollers are adequate for short term use (on the top, one is firm and in good shape, the other is starting the slide to goo but is working well enough for short-term testing). Mine came with a Cardamation-badged microprocessor board inside that's a serial converter and so far, I'm not getting any bits out of it. I am fairly certain that the product I have was sold as a Cardamation CF-600 based on pictures and speed. I found this on the Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20111003183529/http://www.cardamation.com/cardr… The board in question has a 6802 processor, two 6821 PIA chips for the parallel interface, an EPROM, 1K of 2114 SRAM, an 8250 UART, and some misc parts for an RS-232 level shifter. Looking at the DB25F, there are no bits coming out of pin 2 or pin 3. I have yet to sit down and trace signals all the way back, but it may come to that. To assist my probings, while I can reverse-engineer the schematic, locating any docs would speed up this process greatly. On the board, there are markings that indicate it's a "Cardamation Feature 92 Rev 4 Assy No 023.0096-9". The EPROM has a paper label indicating that it's programmed with "V793NE76" whatever that means (likely the variations are largely centered around what EBCDIC-to-ASCII mapping was required). I will be dumping the EPROM to ensure it has sensible contents. Additionally, I'm always suspicious of 2114 SRAMs. They fail while sitting on the shelf. Fortunately everything is socketed, so even if it's an EIA line driver or a PIA or UART or even the CPU, replacement is trivial. There are no unobtanium parts on this outside of the programming of the EPROM. Absolutely worse case, I remove this serial interface and build my own with a modern MCU (I believe Kyle Owen has recently done this). If this was 10 years ago, I'd probably start with Cardamation to ask if they still had any docs on this stuff. I'm reading they closed up shop in 2011 so that's not an option. Digging around for old Cardamation articles in trade rags, I see one of their 300 card-per-minute units spewing the data at 19.2Kbps (I did try that speed, along with 38.4Kbps). I think the minimum speed is going to be 9600 bps, but as I'm not seeing any bits on an oscilliscope, I'm sure it's not the settings on the receive side (yet). -ethan

7 years, 4 months

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PDP-8/e rebuild - update.

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Went to toggle in the RIM loader ? huh ! Memory address 04 stuck low. So either try another 4k core (after changing the jumpers) or... Trace the signal path. What do we think? Rod Sent from Mail for Windows 10

7 years, 4 months

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chasing down an old game

by iain＠csp-partnership.co.uk

Many many years ago in a distant galaxy (called Strathclyde University Computer Science) we ran a game on the PDPs. It was great at testing out terminal line speed handing and debugging curses (well that is what we told the bosses). I remember the game as being called ?search?. But since we had the source code it could have been anything. It was played on 24 x 80 dumb terminals. It was multi user. In the game you moved around the universe in your craft - the display was a kind of 3-D picture (you got closer to a plant and the planet got bigger - try drawing increasing circles on a 24x80!). You could travel through the universe shooting other craft (friend of foe). The only craft name I think I remember is ?shankers? - becuase we had source a lot of the craft names turned into locally relevant names. You could team up with other players and (1 line) communication with a group or with that player. I have searched (on and off) for the game. I cant find anything like it. I would like it to test out the DZ cards on my PDP! - OK that is my excuse ;-) Is anybody aware of what I am talking about? Does anyone have any old code anywhere? Aye, it was not as good as the old GT40 - but it was a different era.

7 years, 4 months

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Interesting RK8E fault

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- Finally got all the parts together (and my act together) to actually get an RK05 lashed up to my PDP-8/e -- only took a decade or so :). I fixed a few problems with the RK05 and it appears to be behaving very nicely. The RK8E controller is mostly working properly but fails interestingly when running the formatter, and during the exerciser -- on cylinder 128 and 192 and very infrequently on cylinder 64 it will get a cylinder mismatch when doing the seek. When running the formatter during the verification pass, on cyls 64 and 128 if I retry the read it'll continue without issues, but it's never successful on a retry on cylinder 192. I tried hooking it to the RK05 in my 11/40 and it exhibits the same behavior, so I'm guessing the drive isn't at fault. And the error is consistent across packs (of which I have only two). Apart from that fault the drive and controller seem to work fine -- I wrote out an OS/8 pack with Adventure on it (or at least the first 191 cylinders of it) and it works without issue. Reading the RK8E service docs and schematics, the cylinder address compare is done by reusing the CRC buffer, so I suspect the issue is in or around there -- the big problem is that debugging it is rather painful since that logic is in the middle board of a three board set, with jumper blocks on top -- so bringing it out on an extender isn't an option. I'm curious if anyone's seen this issue or is so very familiar with the logic that the fault is obvious. I suspected the 7496 shift register at E14 which takes in the cylinder address to be compared w/the header on disk, and I went ahead and replaced it in the hopes that I'd get lucky, but no go. Anyone have any advice? Thanks, Josh

7 years, 4 months

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DECUS PDP-11 SPACE WAR?

by mattislind＠gmail.com

Anyone has old DECUS distributions? I am looking for the PDP-11 SPACE WAR program. It is supposed to be 11-192, written by William (Bill) Seilier and Lawrence (Larry) Bryant in 1974. https://i.imgur.com/rjaWX4X.png It is a space war like program for the PDP-11/10 with AA11 and AD01. Much later Bill rewrote it in C for the MSP430: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/images/tmp/f1276339401-2015330541.html https://github.com/dlitz/openmsp430/blob/master/fpga/actel_m1a3pl_dev_kit/s… But where is the original PAL-11 source? Anyone?

7 years, 4 months

12
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SUN SPARC station ELC

by guykd＠optusnet.com.au

Checking out a SUN SPARC station ELC tonight. It powers up, passes self test. Boot fails because the CMOS RAM battery is dead, so it's lost boot config. That's no problem, it's an ST MK48T02B-25 'TIMEKEEPER RAM' 2K x 8, which is still available. Or I'll probably just cut open the tophat and connect a new battery. Then RTFM to find how to tell it to boot from external SCSI device 3. By extreme good fortune this machine came with a complete set of manuals. The main problem is the video monitor worked for a few minutes, then dropped to about half brightness - and since then is randomly varying in brightness. Before I open it up and start connector wiggling and hunting bad caps, dry joints and so one, does anyone know if schematics for the monitor exist online? Guy

7 years, 4 months

2
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Opening RL02 disk pack

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From>: Christian Corti > I thought that the DEC packs would be similar but no, DEC had to invent > something different... Huh? I thought RL0x drives use an IBM 5440 type pack (as used on the IBM System/3 - I used one of those at my first computer job, they'd just gotten it in); DEC may have used their own format (and servo track stuff), I don't know much about the 5440. Noel

7 years, 4 months

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Hemp Oil Gummies That Improve Cardiovascular Health

by cctalk＠gtaylor.tnetconsulting.net

On 12/8/18 4:43 PM, Michael Mulhern wrote: > We are the spambot challenge? Something like that. -- Grant. . . . unix || die

7 years, 4 months

5
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seagate 801-> Q-bus interface

by useddec＠gmail.com

Does anyone know who made a controller for a Seagate 800 or 801 floppy that will plug into the Q-bus? Model numbers wound be nice to. Thanks, Paul

7 years, 4 months

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Hemp Oil Gummies That Improve Cardiovascular Health

by cisin＠xenosoft.com

WOW! That is the first TRULY obviously and unarguably spam post that I've seen make it past the cctech moderation! On Sat, 8 Dec 2018, HempOil via cctech wrote: > Hemp Oil Gummies That Improve Cardiovascular Health > http://www.tedsplansmart.review/12706-954-1315-7688394/classiccmp/tindex9.h… > > Unsubscribe Here > > http://www.tedsplansmart.review/12706-954-1315-7688394/classiccmp/rindex10.…

7 years, 4 months

2
3
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IBM SMS Data Capture - IBM 1410 update

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jay Jaeger > I have finished the 3rd phase of my IBM 1410 SMS computer > reverse-engineering project. ... The ALDs comprise 752 pages from 9 of > the 11 total volumes of system schematics/engineering drawings ... It > took me roughly 375 hours of time (probably more like 450 - not all time > was captured) to capture the data into a database Wow. I am super impressed. My hat is off... Fantastic job! Noel

7 years, 4 months

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PDP-8/e

by johannesthelen＠hotmail.com

I have used Access Port on Win. Lot easier than TeraTerm and also supports 110 Baud. http://www.sudt.com/en/index.html [http://www.sudt.com/images/sn_en_230x160.gif1zB]<http://www.sudt.com/en/index.html> SUDT.com<http://www.sudt.com/en/index.html> SUDT SerialNull 1.7: SerialNull is a professional Serial Port Simulator, which purpose is to emulate RS232 serial ports connected via virtual null-modem cable using SerialNull.. Virtual Serial Ports are absolutely the same copies of real ones; Real serial ports are not occupied www.sudt.com - Johannes Thelen Finland Before microcomputers blog (Finnish) http://ennenmikrotietokoneita.blogspot.fi/ ________________________________ From: cctalk <cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org> on behalf of Rod G8DGR via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Friday, December 7, 2018 11:59 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: PDP-8/e Hi All Seasons Greetings.. My PDP-8/e was long due for a major overhaul. 1. So everything out 2. Big Hoover job on the Omnibus 3. Bring up on Variac ? No smoke 4. Check PSU volts. ? All OK 5. Power off 6. Install minimal System ? Front Panel, Three CPU cards, RFI shield, 4k Core and Bus term. 7. Yup all looks in right order 8. Power on 9. Toggle in standard AC count up program 10. Clear + Cont 11. And they are racing at Rockingham!! 12. Yup counts up just like it should. 13. Let it run for a while. 14. All stop. 15. PSU off 16. Inset Async Card (Its 110 baud only) 17. Fire up VT100. Beep - yup its alive. 18. Toggle in keyboard echo test. 19. Clear + Cont ? Program runs 20. And .. yes keyboard gets echoed back. OK now I need a little help. Does anybody know of a terminal emulation program that will simulate the reader on an ASR33? I know about RIM and BIN loaders but how and what to feed them I have long forgotten My PDP-8 course completion certificate is dated November 1975. Rod Smallwood Sent from Mail for Windows 10

7 years, 4 months

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PDP-8/e

by pete＠dunnington.plus.com

On 07/12/2018 09:59, Rod G8DGR via cctalk wrote: > OK now I need a little help. > Does anybody know of a terminal emulation program that will simulate the reader on an ASR33? > I know about RIM and BIN loaders but how and what to feed them I have long forgotten For a Unix or Linux machine, there's send and rsend, and several other utilities, that you can find at Kevin McQuiggin's web page: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/pdp8/ and on mine: http://www.dunnington.info/public/PDP-8/ -- Pete Pete Turnbull

7 years, 4 months

7
10
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IBM SMS Data Capture - IBM 1410 update

by cube1＠charter.net

I have finished the 3rd phase of my IBM 1410 SMS computer reverse-engineering project. The first phase was writing a software machine-cycle simulator - almost 20 years ago, in part to verify I had usable software. The 2nd phase was writing code and setting up a database to do the 3rd phase - capturing data from IBM Automated Logic Diagrams (ALDs). The ALDs comprise 752 pages from 9 of the 11 total volumes of system schematics/engineering drawings, volumes II-X. (Volume I is the power supply and volume XI is additional memory). It took me roughly 375 hours of time (probably more like 450 - not all time was captured) to capture the data into a database that contains 10,565 ALD logic blocks, 1281 "DOT functions" where outputs of gates joined as a "Wired OR", with 4222 distinct signal names appearing as 12,398 entries on the 752 pages, and over 32,700 individual connections. The sheets (as reprints from scanned originals) stacked up are 2" high. The second photo is one of them (with marks I made during data capture) is pictured here. The third photo is a screenshot of that page in the application I developed. (The numbers at the bottom, which do not appear on the original sheet, are a gate number on a given SMS card, the number of inputs to that block, and the number of outputs from the block. The little "A" characters appearing between columns represent "DOT functions." I ran a regression in Excel to estimate the time for capturing a given sheet, which ended up as: Time (in minutes per page) = -7.1 + 1.00 * # ALD blocks on the page (the rectangles) + 0.50 * distinct signals coming from / going to other sheet(s) + 2.24 * # "DOT Functions" on the page + 0.15 * # of connections to/from ALD blocks on the page + 0.39 * # of edge connection locations (at the bottom) Most of the residuals - the difference between the actual value recorded and what the equation would calculate - were under 25%. The "DOT Function" coefficient is probably correlated to the overall complexity of the page - "DOT Functions" themselves were easy to enter. The next step is to clean up some things in the application and tune the database to perform better, at which point I expect to make the application available via some online GIT repository so it can be used for other SMS machines (IBM 1620, IBM 1401, IBM 7000 series and the like). Then it will be on to synthesis of sections of the machine (CPU, memory, console) for which I have drawings and some kind of stand-in for parts I don't have drawings for (1414 I/O Synchronizers, tape drives, etc.). The photos referenced can be found at the public facebook post at: https://www.facebook.com/jay.jaeger.3/posts/2100428726685075

7 years, 4 months

2
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PDP-8/e

by derschjo＠gmail.com

On Sat, Dec 8, 2018 at 1:55 AM Rod G8DGR <rodsmallwood52 at btinternet.com> wrote: > Nice try Josh - close ? you have to change the crystal first and you > can?t get them. > https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ABRACON/AB-196608MHZ-B2?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu… > > > Rod Smallwood - Digital Equipment Corporation 1975 ? 1985 > > > > > > Sent from Mail <https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for > Windows 10 > > > > *From: *Josh Dersch via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > *Sent: *08 December 2018 06:36 > *To: *General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > *Subject: *Re: PDP-8/e > > > > On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 10:29 PM Rod G8DGR via cctalk < > cctalk at classiccmp.org> > > wrote: > > > > > It can only do 110 baud !! > > > > > > > Unless you have an oddball SLU, this is not true -- what do you have > > installed? The earlier M8650 and the later M8655 can both be jumpered for > > higher baud rates. > > > > - Josh > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > > > > > From: Pete Turnbull via cctalk > > > Sent: 08 December 2018 03:15 > > > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > > > Subject: Re: PDP-8/e > > > > > > On 07/12/2018 17:46, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote: > > > > On 12/07/2018 11:38 AM, Rod G8DGR via cctalk wrote: > > > >> Oh good how do you set them to 110 baud? > > > >> > > > > Oh, WOW! Good catch, it only goes down to 300 baud! major screwup, > > > > ought to be reported to the developers. > > > > > > But wouldn't it be better to set the serial card in the PDP-8/E to > > > something faster anyway? Although on one of the serial cards, that > > > requires a crystal change, so though commonly done, may not be practical > > > for Rod. > > > > > > -- > > > Pete > > > Pete Turnbull > > > > > > > > >

7 years, 4 months

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PDP-8/e

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jay Jaeger > That code would not run in Windows of course, but it wouldn't be all > that difficult for someone with a C programming background to move it > to Windows under gnucc, or even Microsoft C++ or C#. I highly recommend CygWin (which comes with 'gnucc) for doing C stuff under Windoze: https://www.cygwin.com/ Most Unix/Linux code just compiles and runs under it; modulo stuff that uses things that are so Unix/Linux specific that there's no Windows equivalent, but that's not much - fork() is even there. If you already know Unix/Linux, it makes for a very low-learning-curve transition. Noel

7 years, 4 months

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PDP-8/e

by cube1＠charter.net

I did that sort of thing for my PDP-8/L, where the reader run drove the RS-232 "CTS" control signal and wrote a "C" program to do simple TTY emulation in DeSmet C back in the day. That code would not run in Windows of course, but it wouldn't be all that difficult for someone with a C programming background to move it to Windows under gnucc, or even Microsoft C++ or C#. On 12/8/2018 1:10 AM, Rod G8DGR via cctalk wrote: > I?m sure that would work but I only have an 8650 110 baud only card > Rod > > > Sent from Mail for Windows 110 baud > > From: Bob Rosenbloom via cctalk > Sent: 08 December 2018 03:41 > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: PDP-8/e > > On 12/7/2018 7:01 PM, Pete Turnbull via cctalk wrote: >> On 07/12/2018 17:44, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote: >>> On 12/07/2018 11:22 AM, systems_glitch via cctalk wrote: >>>> Indeed, unless you need character pacing. >>>> >>>> >>> Actually, with the correct settings of the serial port (xon/xoff or >>> CTS pin) the serial port driver should do this, too, so cat would work. >> >> A PDP-8/E doesn't have a CTS pin and the loaders don't support >> XON/XOFF, though. >> > The PDP-8 needs to control the serial CTS function. This was called > reader-run when using a Teletype machine. FOCAL won't load without it. > You can modify the serial card (mine was an M8655) to support the > function. Here's what I did: > > Cleaned up from Aaron Nabil's and Lyle Bickley's write up. > > ?Hack the M8655 to support reader-run by mapping it to RS-232 hardware > flow control. > > 1. Cut the trace leading from Pin 1 of E54 (a 7400).? This is the input > that clears the Reader Run FF when a new character starts to come in. > > 2. Jumper from Pin 1/E54 to Pin 3/E38, a spare gate on a 7400 that we > are going to use an inverter. > > 3. Tie Pin 1 and Pin 2 of E38 together, and run them to Pin 20 of E19, > the UART. > ??? This supplies the signal to the reader-run FF that tells it that > it's got an incoming character and to de-assert the reader-run line. > ??? Normally this is tied to the current loop receiver, we've just > moved it to the UART so any received data will clear the FF. > > 4. Cut a ground traces on 4 of E50, a 1488 RS-232 transmitter. This is > what would normally supply the continuously asserted RTS (and DTR) signal. > > 5. Jumper from pin 7 of E39, a 7474 flip-flop to pins 4 of E50. E39 is > the "reader-run flip-flop".? Now RTS follows the reader run signal. > > Bob >

7 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

SunOS 2.4 Expliot (Re: Old Sparcstations

by technoid6502＠gmail.com

The Sparcstation 4/330 I reworked the NVRAM chip on.... I got it as-is from Computer Parts Barn in Asheville, NC. It was just round the corner from my home in Oakley.. The machine wouldn't start due to NVRAM, which I fixed. It then actually booted from the original drives, had an OS and data on it. My curiosity was piqued. This is what I did: I hung the drive on my PC running Linux (suse, iirc), and ran John the Ripper on it. I didn't get the root, but I got a user password. I hung the drive back on the Sparcstation and logged in as that user. The machine was being used to model the exhaust from various configurations of rocket nozzles. The previous owner turned out to be NASA at the Marshal Space Flight Center. I wanted root. I set out to abuse the OS, did quite a bit, had a hunch based on the experience while sussing the NVRAM problem. I set the date to 1970, booted, and logged in as the valid user I'd got from good old John. The machine bombed to a single user prompt with a kernel panic 'irrational date'. Passwd worked to change the root pw to something I knew. I went back into the monitor cli, changed the date to the real date, booted and logged in as root. The version of Sunos was 2.4? Just thought this might be helpful to someone. Jeff

7 years, 4 months

4
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PDP-8/ update

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Well I got there in the end. HyperTerm on an old DEC Celebris running W95 Thanks for all the input Now to move some diags. over and see if we can load them Rod Sent from Mail for Windows 10

7 years, 4 months

1
0
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PDP-8/e

by pete＠dunnington.plus.com

On 08/12/2018 09:55, Rod G8DGR via cctalk wrote: > Nice try Josh - close ? you have to change the crystal first and you can?t get them. Both Farnell and Mouser UK have suitable crystals. They don't have to be the same physical size. I've changed several. -- Pete Pete Turnbull

7 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

PDP-8/e

by aek＠bitsavers.org

On 12/8/18 1:55 AM, Rod G8DGR via cctalk wrote: > Nice try Josh - close ? you have to change the crystal first and you can?t get them. Dead bug a programmable epson ttl oscillator module, available from digikey

7 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

PDP-8/e

by derschjo＠gmail.com

On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 10:29 PM Rod G8DGR via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > It can only do 110 baud !! > Unless you have an oddball SLU, this is not true -- what do you have installed? The earlier M8650 and the later M8655 can both be jumpered for higher baud rates. - Josh > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > From: Pete Turnbull via cctalk > Sent: 08 December 2018 03:15 > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: PDP-8/e > > On 07/12/2018 17:46, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote: > > On 12/07/2018 11:38 AM, Rod G8DGR via cctalk wrote: > >> Oh good how do you set them to 110 baud? > >> > > Oh, WOW! Good catch, it only goes down to 300 baud! major screwup, > > ought to be reported to the developers. > > But wouldn't it be better to set the serial card in the PDP-8/E to > something faster anyway? Although on one of the serial cards, that > requires a crystal change, so though commonly done, may not be practical > for Rod. > > -- > Pete > Pete Turnbull > >

7 years, 4 months

3
2
0 0

PDP-8/e

by derschjo＠gmail.com

On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 11:10 PM Rod G8DGR via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > I?m sure that would work but I only have an 8650 110 baud only card > Rod > The M8650 does a wide variety of baud rates. See here: https://homepage.divms.uiowa.edu/~jones/pdp8/hard8e/kl8e.html - Josh > > > Sent from Mail for Windows 110 baud > > From: Bob Rosenbloom via cctalk > Sent: 08 December 2018 03:41 > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: PDP-8/e > > On 12/7/2018 7:01 PM, Pete Turnbull via cctalk wrote: > > On 07/12/2018 17:44, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote: > >> On 12/07/2018 11:22 AM, systems_glitch via cctalk wrote: > >>> Indeed, unless you need character pacing. > >>> > >>> > >> Actually, with the correct settings of the serial port (xon/xoff or > >> CTS pin) the serial port driver should do this, too, so cat would work. > > > > A PDP-8/E doesn't have a CTS pin and the loaders don't support > > XON/XOFF, though. > > > The PDP-8 needs to control the serial CTS function. This was called > reader-run when using a Teletype machine. FOCAL won't load without it. > You can modify the serial card (mine was an M8655) to support the > function. Here's what I did: > > Cleaned up from Aaron Nabil's and Lyle Bickley's write up. > > Hack the M8655 to support reader-run by mapping it to RS-232 hardware > flow control. > > 1. Cut the trace leading from Pin 1 of E54 (a 7400). This is the input > that clears the Reader Run FF when a new character starts to come in. > > 2. Jumper from Pin 1/E54 to Pin 3/E38, a spare gate on a 7400 that we > are going to use an inverter. > > 3. Tie Pin 1 and Pin 2 of E38 together, and run them to Pin 20 of E19, > the UART. > This supplies the signal to the reader-run FF that tells it that > it's got an incoming character and to de-assert the reader-run line. > Normally this is tied to the current loop receiver, we've just > moved it to the UART so any received data will clear the FF. > > 4. Cut a ground traces on 4 of E50, a 1488 RS-232 transmitter. This is > what would normally supply the continuously asserted RTS (and DTR) signal. > > 5. Jumper from pin 7 of E39, a 7474 flip-flop to pins 4 of E50. E39 is > the "reader-run flip-flop". Now RTS follows the reader run signal. > > Bob > > -- > Vintage computers and electronics > www.dvq.com > www.tekmuseum.com > www.decmuseum.org > > >

7 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

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