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

by vcf＠siconic.com

http://www.affordablesurplus.com/floppy_drives_main.asp Plus other semi-useful PC/Apple stuff. -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

8" drive support on PC's

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Randy McLaughlin" <cctalk at randy482.com> ---snip--- > >Today density select is a general purpose IO pin, originally the 765 used >the direction pin as a dual purpose pin. > >This dual purpose description is now gone but maybe not the action. > >There is no need for TG43 in todays PC's, at least not as far as the >manufacturers are concerned. When the need for a "new" density select line >came it was accomplished through a separate IO but was the old reduced >current logic removed? > Hi Randy That is a good question? I would guess that it went the way of the FM ability. When they were looking for things to cut, a magnitude comparitor would have sticked out like a sore thumb. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Media Longitevity/Care

by Saquinn624＠aol.com

Coming in on this a little bit late, but if you haven't checked out the Library of Congress you should. www.loc.gov/preserv gives you a basic run down of ways to care for archived materials, and the NIST/CLIR puts out Special Publication 500-252 "Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs - A Guide for Librarians and Archivists" (e-version available). Other tips- gold disks, AZO dye are reputed to last longer. The phenomenon of failure from the outside in has interesting possibilities- have software write a known pattern in the outermost section of the disc and pop up a warning when it starts to deteriorate. Hopefully this would give enough time to move data to another disk. - Scott Quinn

21 years, 2 months

5
8
0 0

PerSci 277 floppy drives

by doc＠mdrconsult.com

I just received a pair of PerSci 8" floppy drives, with a PerSci 1070 S-100 controller (and a mountain of docs, including data sheets, sales literature, and schematics). Unfortunately, I won't have an S-100 system for a few more weeks. It's stuck in Arizona till I get out there to ship it. The question is, is this one of the drives that plays nicely with a PC FDC? I have a couple of older ISA IDE/FD controllers, and an Adaptec 1542 if I can dig it up. That would still entail getting one of the DBit cable adapters, but it would nicely solve the issue of an enclosure and PSU for this YE-Data YD-180. When I get a hance to make a detailed list of this documentation, I'll post it. I think that most of it's already out there, though. Doc

21 years, 2 months

5
17
0 0

Slightly OT ceramic caps - not in DECs

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Geoffrey Thomas" <geoffreythomas at onetel.com> ---snip--- > >That is not quite as unusual for monolithic caps of that vintage. What you >are seeing is silver dendrite growth through cracks in ceramic. ---snip--- Hi This seems to be worse on the glass encapulated, "Mil Spec" capacitors. I've replaced quite a few of these. Many more than the older disc and epoxy ones. In pinball machines, failed disc caps are quite common on the switch sense lines. So, it seems that this is a common source of failure. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Age

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Mar 13 2005, 20:00, Nico de Jong wrote: > 55 listmembers have answered. I was going to send a reply, but it got a bit long, and the gremlins ate it while I left it lying around to be edited. +1 to the "50-54" category. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

21 years, 2 months

9
10
0 0

8" drive support on PC's

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Mar 17 2005, 16:04, Randy McLaughlin wrote: > There is confusion over pin 2 use at least in my head. The first use was > with the SA800 interface for reduced write current. Today on the 34 pin > connector that is what it is now used for even for 3.5" drives. > Traditionally the write current line was used completely differently from > how it is used today. Traditionally it changed according to where on the > disk the data is being written, for today's drives it is for the entire > media. Yes, that's right. > That is a side issue to my question about 765 TG43 controls. > > On a real 765 it generates the reduced write signal and outputs it on the > same controller pin as the direction signal. > > Today the 765 is emulated via VHDL code and I am curious as to whether the > TG43 logic was kept. I can and will experiment on my systems but I would > like to know if others are familiar with the issue. > > Obviously all PC's that use a real 765/8272 does generate the signal and > does bring it out to the 34 pin connector, it just happened to be hidden on > pin 18. I question if it is still there? Well, I looked at the data sheet for the WD37C65, which used to be fairly common, and the answer is "sort of". Pin 39 is the one that you'd be interested in. It's an output labelled "/RWC,/RPM" and when it's low, and the controller is in Base Mode, it says it causes a reduced write current when bit density is increased towards the inner tracks, being active when track > 28 (I think that refers to 40-track drives, which would be 56 on an 80-track drive). This is very similar to to the TG43 signal, except for being relative to a different track, but it's not on the same pin as /DIRECTION (Pin 31). I can't help wondering if "28" is a misprint for "23" or something like that, but I checked two separate printings of the data sheet and both said "28". It also says this function changes when in AT/EISA mode (it then becomes completely under program control, and appears to be intended to be used to set the density and/or speed for the whole disk) :-( However, if you have control over the FDC rather than letting the BIOS or DOS do it for you, you could make it do what you wanted. I also looked at the Intel 82078 FDC, which is a successor to the 8272, in either a 64-pin QFP package or a 44-pin PLCC, either 5V or 3.3V,. and it was an antecedent of many of the multi-I/O chips. Unfortunately it doesn't give enough detail. Lastly, I looked at the NatSemi DP8473. It has /DIRECTION on pin 4 (PLCC version), and /LC (low current) on pin 51. Pin 51 just goes high for HD media and low for SD/DD media (actually it goes low when 250kbps or 300kbps data rates are set, instead of 500kbps). So it doesn't look like that does what you'd want, either. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

TU56/TC11 restoration - VARIAC question

by dvcorbin＠optonline.net

> I do not own a variac, so I will need to get one of these to > properly reform the TU56 capacitors. I see several different > varietieson eBay. What would I need exactly? > For re-forming the cap'sin my unit, my plan is to (hopefully this weekend), disconnect the screw terminals and use a programmable power supply [DC] applied direcly to the terminals. Current will be limited and the voltage slowly increased. If I can get the lab computer working, then it will be a nice slow smooth increase over a 12-24hr period. If I resort to adjusting the supplies manually I will end up making larger steps and watching the current..not as clean but still better than a full "bang".

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Fwd: Used IBM equipment in Green Bay, WI USA

by jfoust＠threedee.com

>Subject: Used IBM equipment in Green Bay >Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 16:43:34 -0500 >From: "Justin Nemeth" <Jnemeth at EPLUS.com> >To: <jfoust at threedee.com> > >John, >I have a customer in Green Bay looking to get sell, scrap, get rid of the following equipment I think they are fairly large boxes.. > >Let me know whether or not your interested > >Thanks > >Regards, >Justin Nemeth >ePlus Group, Inc. (Midwest) >Ph:630-790-2203 > > >Equipment: >IBM 3745-210 Communication Controller -- > with the following features: > (8) 1561 - Channel Adapters > (2) 4720 - Low Speed Scanner > (1) 4770 - Token-Ring Adapter Type 2 > (1) 4900 - Lic Unit > (6) 4911 - Lic Type 1 > (5) 4931 - Lic Type 3 > (1) 7100 - Storage Incement 4 MB > (2) 9720 - Basic Low speed Scanner > (1) 9763 - Tsst Board With Tra Option > (8) 9911 - Basic Lic Type 1 > > Approximate Date Available - April 2005 > > (2) IBM 9393-T82 Virtual Array Units > (1) 9393-X82 Virtual Array Unit > >

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

8" drive support on PC's

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Randy McLaughlin" <cctalk at randy482.com> > >On the Nec 765 (Intel 8272) the direction pin is also use for reduced write >current (TG43). > >When the step line pulses the direction pin controls the direction. All >other times it is high if the track counter is 43 or less, low if the track >counter is greater than 43. > >The current disk controllers are based on the 765. > >Does anyone know if the direction pin does the same on the newer clone >chips? I have started looking at the datasheets but so far I have not found >any reference to that function on "modern" parts. > >If it's true then the 34 to 50 pin cable I use (and others) can be made to >include TG43 without using an adapter like FDADAP. > >It may turn out some do and some don't but since everyone is basically using >the same licensed core I would expect all newer chips to act the same. The >question is was TG43 support kept from the original 765? > > >Randy >www.s100-manuals.com Hi Randy See web page: http://www.dbit.com/fdadap.html You'll note that it mentions that a normal PC does not supply the TG43 signal. Their adapter includes what looks like a uP to keep track of the current track to generate this signal for writing to 8 inch disk. If you were doing software to write 8 inch disk, I would guess that you could double up this function on the step direction wire. There is otherwise no signal to do this for you. Don Maslin's connection was primarily to be used for reading 9 inch disk. It may also be assuming that the drive has a built in track 43 sensor. I think this is were the confusion over pin 2 comes in. This is usually uses as a speed control on PC's but historically it was a write current control. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

S-100 SASI setup info needed

by rcini＠optonline.net

All: I'm longing to add a hard disk system to the Altair emulator. I came across a 3-part series in BYTE (March - May 1983) for a host-computer adapter manufactured by ASC Associates connected to a XEBEC-S1410 based 10mb SASI Winchester drive. In part 3 of the article, BYTE printes the complete CBIOS, but the article stops in the middle of the code around page 400 of the issue. I have a nearly-complete series of BYTEs and I haven't found a reference to the code in any subsequent issue. So, here's the question...does anyone have a copy of the complete CBIOS from the article *or* have a CBIOS for another XEBEC-based setup? Any help is appreciated. Thanks. Rich

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

CCTALK Message Format required

by shanits＠cygnus.stpp.soft.net

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi, of late we have had been trying to develop a software for a London based music company which uses Jukeboxes that works on CC-TALK BACTA Protocol.We have tried our level best to find the Message Format which the cctalk understands both for serial and Parallel port interfaces , but unfortunately we couldnt find one.There were documents that made allusive expalination about the message formats but nothing in detail as to what all means in the colection of bytes that constitue a port communication. Can you on behalf of CCtalk respond back with a manual that addresses the same.Apart from that may I be obliged by one further level by you with any sample software program in any language that deals with CCTalk Messsge handling logic. I am eagerly looking forward for a positive response at your earliest convenience. Regards Shaneit Cygnus Software Pvt Ltd 568 Narayan Peth 4Th Floor Kesri Wada Pune - 411030 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Age, My computing history.

by trash3＠splab.cas.neu.edu

For those that are interested. I sent my age previously, and was guilty of waiting too long. Hardware experience: somewhat chronological Some IBM EAM (machines) with the big patch boards Control Data Corp 6600 PDP 11/10 PDP-12 PDP-8 IBM 360 CDC 7200 IBM 370 PDP 11/34 PDP 11/44 PDP 11/60 Data General Nova 3 DG Nova 4 Some S100 bus stuff (Imsai, Altair, etc) Some STD bus stuff DEC LSI-11 DEC LSI-11/2 DEC LSI-11/23 Rockwell 6502 Zilog Z80 Intel 8080/8085 Zilog Z8 Motorola 68008 IBM PC IBM PC/XT DEC LSI-11/73 IBM PC/AT Basic Stamp 486, pentium, etc. Programming experience (not just using equipment) Assemblers: IBM 360 and 370 DEC PDP 8 and 12 DEC PDP-11 CDC 6600/7200 (Cyber 7200) Nova 3 and 4 6502 8080/8085 Z8 Z80 68000 Basic Stamp Higher level languages: (some not so proficient and some pretty forgotten by now) Cobol Fortran Basic, Visual Basic Dibol Pascal Turbo C C, C+, Visual C Java Perl Joe Heck

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

TU56/TC11 restoration - VARIAC question

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Guy Sotomayor" <ggs at shiresoft.com> > >On Thu, 2005-03-17 at 11:00 -0500, Ashley Carder wrote: >> I do not own a variac, so I will need to get one of these to >> properly reform the TU56 capacitors. I see several different varieties >> on eBay. What would I need exactly? > >If I'm not mistaken the whole reforming capacitors discussion was for >electrolitic capacitors (ie DC). The motor run capacitors are AC. I'm >not sure the reforming process would be the same (or if it is even >possible). > >Anyone want to comment? >-- > >TTFN - Guy > > Hi AC electrolytics can be similarly reformed, using a current limited AC source. Many run capacitors are electrolytic but may also be large oil and paper. Most anything over 10 mf is probably an AC electrolytic. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

TU56/TC11 restoration - VARIAC question

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "John Allain" <allain at panix.com> > >> 20amps, wow. Someone give me this for christmas! > > >I now have Two nice machines (Tek scope, VT100) that blow >fuses and have been dancing aound the issue to get one for a >few weeks now. I'm not really an electronics guy but I've been >led to believe that a variac is the single best thing to get to help >remedy fuse blows. Any strong yes or no votes towards this >decision? > >John A. > Hi If you've hit a capacitor hard enough to blow a fuse, it is not likely to recover through reforming. Reforming must be done before applying full voltage. Most issues of blowing fuses can be located by isolation and use of an ohm meter. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Bootstrapping modern file-transfer tools...

by tomj＠wps.com

I'm trying to find a way to get a modern file-transfer protocol program into my Nova 4/X. I'm close to abandoning the Kermit source I have for Data General RDOS... I got it from U Columbia's Kermit site; it's the FORTRAN5 output of a RATFOR preprocessor, there's no RATFOR source, and though it compiles, it seems to not talk to the console. Since it's algorithmic output it's very hard to read. On simulogics.com is a KERMIT in dump format (similar to LBR files, functionally) but it's binary. I've got a decent FORTRAN IV compiler, what I can't find is a FORTRAN IV kermit. There's a bunch of mainframey fortran kermits, but no one seems to think about portability (eg. putting all the console/serial I/O in stub functions) and none are careful to use portable libraries, and all that. Worse, Kermit seems to have abandoned the idea of a bootstrap system (except for one unix version) with utterly base-minimal compliance and features. Anyone have code? I am considering writing a proprietary system that transfers fixed-length line-oriented blocks consisting only of ASCII numbers and line control; real FORTRAN IV doesn't do text (some proprietary libraries do). The only thing I have now is minicom as terminal emulator. sending/receiving paced ASCII67 text (thanks Jules for the tip on ascii-xfer).

21 years, 2 months

2
2
0 0

Xerox 820 documentation.

by gsarno＠nortel.com

Hi I own an Old Xerox 820 machine, Can anyone help to find documentation for it ? Also is there a way to download programs onto it using the serial/parallel port ? I have seen some info at http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctech/2002-September/002642.html <http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctech/2002-September/002642.html> but I couldn't find more. Thanks.

21 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

Apology to the list

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Dear Fellow ClassicCmp'ers, I want to apologize for my recent behavior here. I'm sorry that I was pushed over the edge by John's innocent suggestions of using some more modern technology. I was clearly in the wrong state of mind when I wrote that the purpose of my life was in using old technology and nothing new and that I would shed blood (whether my own or anyone else's) over it. Of course no piece of technology, old or new, is worth shedding blood over. I don't know what came over me when I wrote that. Those who know me more closely know that I've been leaning more and more over to alternative spirituality and metaphysics and that technology of any kind, old or now, currently plays a very small part in my life. So certainly I'm not going to kill over it. But I promise I won't bring up any more off-topic stuff here. Technology can be fun, and even I am open to some modernisation. Like I'm trying to transition from a VT320 to a VXT X11 terminal. To bring this back on topic, I'll soon be working on a MOP server for 4.3BSD-Quasijarus for netbooting these VXTs, and getting X11R4 to run on my 4.3BSD-Quasijarus hosts. Fun fun fun. Blessed Be everyone, MS

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

USB Universal Floppy Disk controller

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Barry Watzman" <Watzman at neo.rr.com> > > >I remain convinced that USB, not parallel, is the "right" way to go for >interfacing a Universal Floppy Disk controller. > Hi Barry I tend to agree with you. We should be thinking this way. Still, I believe that development work should be done in an environment that is handy and convenient. The USB is just a machine interconnect. One just has to keep in mind what the final product will be like. In other words, don't lock the design into one specific format. The only issue I have with USB is that it requires drivers for each machine it is connected to. These have to be specific to the USB device we use to interface with. RS-232 is generic enough that we could run things from text files using simple terminal modes on almost any machine. I just wish that USB was that simple. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

10
16
0 0

TU56/TC11 restoration - VARIAC question

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Ashley Carder" <wacarder at usit.net> > >I do not own a variac, so I will need to get one of these to >properly reform the TU56 capacitors. I see several different varieties >on eBay. What would I need exactly? > >Ashley > > Hi You can always use a voltage source and a limiting resistor. You don't need a variac ( although they are real handy ). Dwight

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

archiving data, was RE: Media Longitevity/Care

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

Hi One other thought is that one should have a way to transfer the raw data from what ever media you have. This allows one to have redundent information stored on the same media. If you depend on normal file systems, you run the risk of the file system not allowing you to access the data simply because a small part is damaged. I think most have been using normal file tools that are not dealing with things in this sense. Most of these types of systems have a weak link problem. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Kinda OT: Keyboard Adapters for PCs

by dvcorbin＠optonline.net

> ...and you never have to take your hands off of the keyboard. in most environments I work in the cord is not long enough to reach the mens room...so I don't think "never" really applies....

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Opinions? BeOS

by lproven＠gmail.com

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 20:13:19 -0800, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: > It would have been nice to see it continue, but after Apple bought > NeXT rather than Be, Inc. they sort of started to run out of steam. > I might be typing this on a dual 2Ghz G5 running Mac OS X, but I > can't help but thinking how much better the system would be if it had > been BeOS based, rather than OPENSTEP based. The good thing about > them buying NeXT was getting Steve Jobs back, but BeOS was a far more > efficient OS. And yes, I've run OPENSTEP and BeOS on the same system. I know what you mean, but after a few years, and actually building up an old PowerMac 7300/166 I got given for free with a load of bits off eBay - paying money for hardware, most unlike me! - and actually getting to *use* Mac OS X, I came to the conclusion that Apple did the right think. BeOS was gorgeous. My favourite PC OS ever. Everything I used to really like about systems like Acorn RISC OS, Psion EPOC and so on, or AmigaOS. Like those early proprietary 16-bit and 32-bit OSes, BeOS was small, blindingly fast, had a clean, simple GUI and came with an assortment of useful apps. It had a small but competent portfolio of useful software. Unlike most of them, it had networking and Internet capabilities built in, supported memory protection, virtual memory and multiprocessor hardware. And unlike any of them, it ran on cheap generic hardware, What's not to like? But whereas it would have made for a small and blisteringly fast Mac OS X, which with a bundled or integrated copy of SheepSaver would have happily run Classic MacOS & all its apps under the new OS, that's *all* it would have made. BeOS was unique. POSIX-like, but not Unix. Proprietary GUI but one with no unique advantages. Traditional C/C++ development model. Proprietary environment with all that that entails with programmers having to learn it. NextStep/OpenStep represented something different. Yes, all the clutter and kludge of Unix, but: - a new, simple development system using Objective C, Interface Modeller & a vast & comprehensive class library (arguably the best development system and tools for GUI apps there has ever been) - deep thorough object orientation - based on Unix, so familiar to millions of existing programmers, users and techies - based on /open source/ Unix, freeing Apple from the burden of developing & maintaining the entire OS on their own - a solid open networking system build deep into the OS - designed, like BeOS, by former Apple engineers - unlike BeOS, commercially successful (in a small way) for a decade in the open market on various hardware and software platforms - a new and revolutionary GUI based on Display Postscript (now Display PDF, but it's the same difference) - one that offers compelling advantages for designers, users and developers, with powerful new capabilities, but that's already based on known, widespread technology. Up front, BeOS would have made a better successor Mac OS. NextStep had to go through a lot of painful development to make it look and work like MacOS and the result was initially slow and clunky. However, /every/ successive release has made it sleeker and faster, bucking the trend of every other OS in the industry. But that's not what's important. What is important is that along with bringing over all the Mac developers with Carbon, it brought in lots of Unix developers with the Mach/BSD underpinnings, and tempted PC C coders with a different dialect of C, and Java coders with good Java support. Then to all of them it offered, /for free in the box/, the most remarkably polished and effective GUI development environment there is. Getting programmers behind a new OS is essential. It's paramount. That, I think, was the basis of Apple's decision. The result? OS X is by almost any standard the single most polished, friendly, usable, attractive, flexible desktop OS on the planet, and it's attracting lots of new and interesting software development. But by the same token, it's Unix, so if you want to drive it with EMACS and X tools from a /bash/ prompt, you can. BeOS could never have been that. -- Liam Proven Home: http://welcome.to/liamsweb * Blog: http://lproven.livejournal.com AOL, Yahoo UK: liamproven * ICQ: 73187508 * MSN: lproven at hotmail.com

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Re; Age

by dvcorbin＠optonline.net

> I first programmed in high school in FORTRAN on an IBM > 1620 and shortly thereafter.... I read this as "...on an IBM **IN** 1620..." and thought we really had a winner on the oldest programmer.... ...oh, the coffee is ready....BRB....

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Re; Age

by r.stek＠snet.net

I'm 56.4166666... or thereabouts. I first programmed in high school in FORTRAN on an IBM 1620 and shortly thereafter in Autocoder on a 1401, around 1965-66. I still remmeber reading in a column in Popular Science that "scientists predict that in the future computers would be the size of shoe boxes..." Since I was a teenager and was already an expert on computers (and most everything else), I laughed at this silly idea... until 10 years later. Bob Stek Saver of Lost Sols

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

OT: Longevity of DVD-R and CD-R / 2-Media Hedge

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Jules Richardson" <julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk> > >On Mon, 2005-03-14 at 23:51 +0100, Nico de Jong wrote: >> The fact is, that the development of drives is so quick, that even if you >> _could_ save a tape or disk or CD or whatever for 30 years, you wouldnt find >> the proper drive, and even if you did, it wouldnt be supported anymore. >> Let's go back 30 years; what were the dominant media at that time ? 1600 bpi >> reel-to-reel tapes, 7.25 or 30 MB harddisk (IBM 2311/2314), and 8" floppy >> discs. Some of my customers _still_ accept 8" disks and reels for financial >> transactions. > >Philosophical question. As performance of a device goes up, does the >need for more performance (by the average user) go down? > >In other words do we hit a point where the storage technology of the day >is so good for what the typical/power user needs that there is no >incentive for manufacturers to built anything better? > >Curious as to what people think. I'm sure they'll always be innovation >in the lab and on specialist high-budget projects, but maybe one day >they'll just be nowhere left to go for Joe Public. HI Hardly. The requirement for more space will continue. Serial data, such as CDROM's have some limits coming up but not the hunger for more data space. Access time is becoming a limiting factor that technology will sortly overcome( or we are doomed ). Dwight

21 years, 2 months

5
4
0 0

Longevity of DVD-R and CD-R (Rewrite from original poster)

by bristol22＠softhome.net

I am the scoundrel that made the original post on this topic that opened a flood of discussion. Members brought up details that I never addressed; and I learned from everyone's posts. Thank you! This may be useless, beating a dead horse, and off topic. I am re-submitting here my original 6 point comment with corrections and links, and with ADDITIONS as points: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 to cover other areas people have brought up, etc. Richard Bristol ---------------------------------------------------------- Archival longevity of DVD and CD media may be a good topic for the computer preservationist. I have studied this quite a bit. My first conclusion, including from crude accelerated life and torture tests I made myself, is that the "100 year" claims some people made are likely baloney. A research article appeared in the German version of Q't magazine (unless I miss-spelled that), where they did some tests on raw error rate on just burned DVD+R media, using some $50,000 equipment. None of the media they tested had a low enough raw error rate to meet the requirements of the DVD+R standard. Yet they sell it. (Mitsubishi did the best.) Then there are many hobbiests looking at raw error rates on DVD media using Lite-On drives with firmware than can report on raw errors. For example, hobbiests measure and post on sites like: http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Print.aspx?ArticleId=11657 My overall conclusion is that most DVD media on the market sold by no-names, and by the names Sony, Maxell, Memorex, 3M Imation, etc is not very good. These companies re-badge whaterver is cheapest this month from whatever factory. My least favorite factory is CMC Magnetics Corporation in Europe. Next worst in my view are some Korean and Taiwanese factories (K-Well, In Young, and Lead Data=Great Quality=GQ). TDK seems to be the only advertised brand that makes their own DVD-R that you can actually buy in a USA retail store (although one member said maybe they don't make it themselves), unless the store carries Verbatim. I just verified that Pioneer and Verbatim buy their media from the good Japanese companies, Mitsubishi (MCC), Taiyo Yuden (TY), and Mitsui. Anyway, Pioneer and Verbatim consistently have low raw error rates. A low error rate when freshly burned gives greater margin that as the errors increase as the media ages, error correction can still take care of it. Also, these companies have better engineering about the life span of the organic dyes and such used in the data layer. So when I want it to last, I do this: 1) Use a good burner with low raw error rate after burn/read and good media-to-other-machine cross compatibility. I used to recommend the Pioneer DVR-105 and below, but the DVR-107 and DVR-108 are poor at this. Now I recommend BenQ DW1620 ($52) DVD+-RW double layer drive. Most burners have new firmware you can flash even if you bought it yesterday. A lot of the effort in the new firmware is decreasing the error rate on some media, so it is often worth flashing it. 2) My first choice of media is either Pioneer or Verbatim DVD-R, followed by DVD+R from the same two makers. Third choice brand is TDK. I don't trust much else. Double sided and double layer DVD are a little imature at this point. 3) The freeware Windoze program DVDinfo.exe will tell you who made your mysterious media (reads it off the media). E.g. MCC001 is made by Mitsubishi. 4) All RW media (DVD-RW DVD+RW CD-RW) have poor archival life. Think about it: with RW, instead of burning a pit in the data layer, you are fooling around with glossy or matte finish depending on how quickly a melted liquid re-freezes. Official tests, and my own tests, show poor life. A little sunlight-UV can erase it. 5) I don't burn more than 85% of the capacity of a DVD. DVDs are a sandwich, lexan (polycarbonate) on both sides, data layer chemistry in the middle. The spiral starts on the inside (opposite LP records). If you leave 3/4" unused at the outside edge, it will take longer before the Ozone and 02 and other environmental exposures that attack the data chemistry at the edges of the lexan sandwitch actually reach your data. So on a "4.7GB" disk which in real life could hold 4.3GB, I burn 3.8GB. 6) DVD-R or DVD+R is better than CD-R, because it is a sandwich. DVD also has stronger error correction. CD-R often dies from the label side, by getting bumped against the drive tray, the jewel case, a pen... The paint layer that protects your data on the label side is very thin and fragile. CD-R also die from chemical errosion from ozone, fingers, marking pens, etc on the label side. I write on them only in the center no-data area. DVDs, being a sandwich, don't have those problems. 7) If you really care about it's archival life, hedge your bets by burning two copies, on DIFFERENT media. Select two good media types made by different companies. Each may have, just a guess, a 10% chance of self-destructing within 20 years. This would be because of a design or implimentation mistake. For example perhaps the sandwich adheasive includes a chemical that eventually reacts badly with the data, or some impurity in manufacturing at that time. If the two media are very different, their probabilty of failure approaches statistical indpendence; and if independent then the chance that both are unreadable would approach 0.1 * 0.1 or only a 1% chance. 8) Because the data is sandwiched in plastic, my belief is that single-layer single-sided DVD-R or DVD+R as a class will last longer then CD-R as a class. However, some applications require CD-R. For archival CD-R I have used extensively and can recommend "BASF by EMTEC" (Emtec in USA) "Ceram Guard" CD-R BASF CD-R74 Maxima Ceram DA (really made by Taiyo Yuden). (Beware some different Emtec/Basf CD-R are made by CMC and are poor.) However "Ceram Guard" is truely hard to buy in the USA. I bought mine for $2 each from the retail chain "Guitar Center" in person (guitarcenter.com). They were marked "for audio use" but that does not matter. They are NOT gold. Their feature is that a ceramic coating is vacumn sputter-coated on the labeled. You could probably use a ball point pen on it. They are by a mile the most sturdy CD-R I have ever seen. Unlike most CD-R, taps to the label side don't kill them. Out of about 1000 CD-R I have seen or used "in the field", I have seen about 25 dead CD-R's (that were once good) And 22 of those 25 were at least slightly abused. (Sun, moisture, tap on drive tray on label side when inserting, or tap on jewel case) Only 3 of 25 appeared to die from purely with "from the inside bit rot". Of those 3, 2 were made by one company: GQ Great Quality, Taiwan. So I am mostly interested in the label side coating. These ceramic coated disks are mentioned here: http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/basf.shtml BASF/Emtec also sells these as "archival" but I would want to know who made it for them before buying. They are real gold: BASF/Emtec CD-R Gold Digital Photo BASF/Emtec DVD+R Digital Video Gold Occasionally you can find "Kodak InfoGuard". They are expensive. They have a very tough label side, and use gold. They are semi-discontinued, and were sold to medical and business markets. If you have a Kodak "Picture CD" from film processing you may have one there. Kodak digital science InfoGuard, maker: Kodak Japan Limited, Phthalocyanine 1X - 4X Kodak Gold Ultima InfoGuard, maker: Kodak Japan Limited, Phthalocyanine 1X - 4X More practically speaking, you CAN actually buy Mitsui "MAM Gold CD-R" for about $1 each now. They use real gold, and have a decent paint layer they call "diamond coat". (But it's not anywhere near the toughness of "Ceram Guard" or even "InfoGuard".) Described for sale here: http://store.mam-a-store.com/standard---archive-gold.html 9) I don't know if high-spin readers contribute to media death. But too high a speed definitely contributes to "can't read Table of Contents" and "ECC Error" on read, and marginal quality burns. Plextor CD-R burners come with PlexTools(?) software specifically to slow them down. You can sometimes read a CD-R this way that otherwise can't be read on newer faster readers. To read a CD-R whose errors are too high for most all readers, I prefer these to read it: Plextor 4x CD-RW drive, or 12x (not 8x). Plextor 20x and above are not as good. Cheap and I have a few: Panasonic 12x just plain reader. Sometimes other 4x readers by NEC, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony. 10) I like to try, when burning, for the lowest raw-error-rate (that some machines can tell you when you read). Published tests show excessive speed hurts. My rule of thumb when burning is: Never exceed the lesser of the media's rated speed, or 2/3 of the burner's maximum speed. So if a CD-R burner will burn at 48x, and the media says it is 80x, I will burn it at around 12x or 24x. There is such a thing as too slow also, for a particular burner. The sweet spot gives you a lower raw error rate, and greater cross-compatibility when reading it on many different drives. 11) A disk that takes a long time to "settle" (usually light goes out) on insertion is a possible indication of a high error rate and likelyhood of complete table of contents failure later. 12) The free Windoze program md5summer.exe will generate a text file with .md5 ending for any directory tree of files. Each line in the file is the md5, a space, *, and then the pathname; one line per file. I put one of these .md5 files in the top level of my CD-R or DVD-R burns. Then, in Windoze a couple years later, double click that .md5 file and it does the opposite, and confirms the md5 of each file on the media. I have seen a few CD-Rs that were damaged, that in Windoze gave no error message at all when read, but the data read back was actually wrong. I use md5summer also before ftp etc. transfers. Will someone better informed say how this is best done and commonly done in linux and unix? Perhaps find . -exec md5sum '{}' \; > md5sum_list or something? And the checking later? Richard Bristol (the same guy who recently asked for help reading 9-track tar tapes)

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

itsy bitsy Unix

by waisun.chia＠gmail.com

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 22:00:12 -0800, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote: > At 9:32 PM -0800 3/16/05, Cameron Kaiser wrote: > >Does anyone know a true (not a homebrew hack) multitasking environment that > >will run in 16K or less, preferably with available source? > > uCOS-II. (http://www.ucos-ii.com) Real-time, pre-emptive multitasking, embedded. Comes with source-code, have to buy the book to be legal. Heck it even has a TCP/IP module. Quote (page 72) of the said book: "A minimal kernel for an 8-bit CPU that provides only scheduling, context switching, semaphore management, delays and timeouts should require about 1 to 3kB or code space." So theoretically it'd be possible to port this to a 16kW PDP.

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Can't read CP/M disks on PC

by vcf＠siconic.com

So now that I've got the 8" drive running well on the PC, I am trying to read 8" CP/M disks. 22Disk is giving me sector not found errors (cylinder 2, side 0, sector 1) and the DOS CP/M tools are giving me "Unknown floppy disk format", even on disks that read fine on my NEC APC. I tried reading in a sector using debug but I also get read errors. Any ideas? The drive is a Tandon TM 848-02. Very little information online, but it seems to support DSDD. -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

21 years, 2 months

26
43
0 0

Longevity of DVD-R and CD-R (Was MagTapes)

by elf＠ucsd.edu

Richard Bristol wrote: > (5) I don't burn more than 85% of the capacity > of a DVD. DVDs are a sandwich, lexan (polycarbonate) > on both sides, data layer chemistry in the middle. > The spiral starts on the inside (opposite LP records). > If you leave 3/4" unused at the outside edge, it will > take longer before the Ozone and 02 and other environmental > exposures that attack the data chemistry at the edges > of the lexan sandwitch actually reach your data. So on > a "4.7GB" disk which in real life could hold 4.3GB, I > burn 3.8GB. Interesting approach. Curious though ... why do the edges get attacked first? Are the disks slapped together in some sort of fashion such that there exists a potential breach at the edges?

21 years, 2 months

6
8
0 0

FPGAs was USB Universal Floppy Disk controller

by swtpc6800＠comcast.net

Eric wrote: > However, I don't *really* think you want to spend the rest of your > life writing your own FPGA development software. It's a hard problem > and there are hundreds of thousands of man-years of development effort > in the Xilinx software. By the time you got your own software working > for one family, that family would have long since been discontinued. Scott wrote: > I would suspect that while there might be hundreds of thousands of man > hours, that there just can't possible be hundreds of thousands of man > *years* involved.

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

TU56/TC11 restoration - Power supply question

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Mar 16 2005, 17:53, der Mouse wrote: > Well, I've never had a cap in a power supply go bang. But I did once > put together a circuit and carelessly use a cap rated for about half > the expected voltage - I was checking only the capacitance, my bad. I've had two electrolytics fail spectacularly. The first was one that had just aged. It was a large PSU electrolytic in a valve[1] PA amplifier. I'd had the amp running several times, for an hour or so at a time, but on one occasion, it just blew. It made a loud hissing noise, and ejected a stream of white fumes. The second was a non-polarised electrolytic in an Atari monitor. The original had failed, so I looked through the catalogues for a similar type. The only one I found of the same capacitance and voltage claimed to have a suitably large ripple current capacity, but was quite a lot smaller than the original. I was a bit skeptical, but hey, technology moves on and capacitors get smaller every year, right? It lasted about 90 seconds. The bang was spectacular, and the amount of fibrous padding that came out of such a small space was really impressive. The ceiling still has the dent in it, but the monitor now has a polypropylene cap instead. [1] British for "vacuum tube" -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

TU56 restoration

by dvcorbin＠optonline.net

> Can I easily test the mechanics, on/off switches, lamps, motors, > etc, without hooking up the TC11? I think there is a local > mode switch and wondered what all could be tested easily > without hooking up the TC11. I will be studying the documentation > to get a better idea about things. I have a TC11 that also needs > to be cleaned up. It has a layer of dust on it and needs a couple > boards, which should be here soon. > I am also hoping to start firing up my PDP-8 and TU56 in the next few weeks [the lab is almost re-built!!!!!] so perhaps Ashley and I could coordinate our (limited) knowledge and run various tests in parallel....

21 years, 2 months

4
5
0 0

TU56 restoration

by djg＠drs-c4i.com

You will probably need to pull the hubs and clean and lubricate the spring loaded friction bushing behind the hubs. If you turn it by hand and it is quite stiff or springs back after you release the hub then they need cleaning. Most of the hubs are screws in the plastic so a easy to strip when tightining so don't over do it. They may come pre stripped. The manual goes into how to put the hubs on. Try somewhat tight and if they slip tighten some more. The screws are serrated head so may need to be replaced if slipping and worn. A little slipping won't hurt for initial testing but will wear the shaft long term. I used some epoxy thread repair material since some of mine were prestripped. It sort of worked but wasn't really strong enough. Putting in a helicoil might be better but I didn't go that far. The tape motion can be tested in local mode and the manual has adjustments for clean stopping. When no tape in installed both reels should turn in opposite directions. With a tape on it should not turn until you hit forward or backward. The lights may be burned out. They were sold as assemblies but they are a custom order now. You can open them up and carefully solder in a new bulb inside. I bought a couple similar bulbs from Mouser and picked the one I liked. Since mine had no good bulbs I can't say what was the closest match. The capacitors have been discussed. The 4 motor capacitors are obvious if they are going, junk will be coming out the vent. Altough after shipping it may of all broken loose. The power supply in the back also has a big capacitor in it for the motor drive voltage (36V?). It wouldn't hurt to reform that one. I haven't always reformed the capacitors most of the time its powered up ok but did have them fail in one item. I use the current limited supply method. Also note you provide either 5V or 10V, not both. I have a video of operation of my unit online if you need to see what it looks like running. David Gesswein http://www.pdp8.net/ -- Run an old computer with blinkenlights. Have any PDP-8 stuff you're willing to part with?

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

HP9915B with PSU problems

by vp＠cs.drexel.edu

Hi, I have returned to my HP9915B that blows its fuse as soon as you power it up. I followed Tony's advice and checked the two large capacitors (C46 and C58), and the PIC645 and they are all OK. I then checked the U30 (3524) in the chopper sense circuit and its OK as well. I checked the parts after removing them from the PCB to ensure that there was no interference by other components. So now I am really at a loss and wonder if anybody has any ideas. Best Regards **vp

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

RQDX3 on an 11/23?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Mar 16 2005, 8:46, Pete Turnbull wrote: > On Mar 15 2005, 23:01, Ethan Dicks wrote: > > > I have never used an RQDX3 except in a BA23 or BA123, but the schemes > > I've seen described in this thread to manufacture a direct > RQDX3->hard > > drive should all work. > It's certainly easier and likely neater to use the real thing, if you > have it. But if you want to "roll your" own, I already published my > distribution board layout and the RQDXn pinout, and later today I'll > put the M9058 RQDX distribution board layout and circuit, and the > circuit diagram for the Write-Protect/Ready switch panel up as well. OK, done. http://www.dunnington.u-net.com/public/RQDX/ DU.COR patch for DU.MAC to use RQDX3 under RT-11 V5.01 DUX.TXT explanation of above DistrOVL.ps component overlay for my RQDX distribution board DistrPCB.ps PCB layout artwork for above M9058_layout.ps component overlay for M9058 distr.board in BA123 M9058_schematic.ps schematic diagram for M9058 RQDXn_LEDs_switches.ps schematic of the WR.PROT + READY switches/LEDs RQDXn_pinout.ps list of pins and signal descriptions for RQDXn RX50_substitute.ps notes on using floppy drives other than RX50 The first two are flat-ASCII; all the files with ".ps" extensions are PostScript. If you don't have a PostScript viewer (eg Ghostscript or one of the Corel packages), you can send them straight to a PostScript printer. The ROM images for RQDX1, RQDX2, and RQDX3 are in http://www.dunnington.u-net.com/public/DECROMs/ See the file "00ReadMe" for information, "ROMlist" for a table of part-numbers/module-numbers/versions, and "Wanted!" for, well, "wanted" :-) -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

RQDX3 on an 11/23?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Mar 16 2005, 12:46, John A. Dundas III wrote: > At 2:05 PM -0500 3/16/05, Ethan Dicks wrote: > >You can literally pull the CPU and/or memory from a MicroVAX I/II and > >drop in a KDF11 or KDJ11 and required memory, and *bam* - a > >MicroPDP... > > I've done the J-11 <--> uVaxII exchange with pretty good success. > Having the Console Panel (in the back, CK-KA630-A) for the uVax seems > to be a necessity; not needed for the J-11. > > I have not tried the F-11 in a generic BA23, though I would expect it > to work. Will the J-11 correctly mate with the RUN/START/drive lock > panel in the front? How is that best handled without an actual 11/23 > or 11/23+ front panel? The DC_OK/RUN/START/HALT and drives LED/switch panel on the front is the same for all the microVAX and microPDP-11 series in a BA23. Only the badges get changed (they unclip). The DC OK and RUN LEDs, and the HALT and RESTART switches, connect directly to the backplane, and the drive switches/LEDs connect to the signal distribution board, which in turn would be connected to the RQDXn by a 50-way ribbon cable. The console panel on the back for the KDJ11-B and KDJ11-F is different to the microVAX one, of course. It has a 2-digit display, a DB25M instead of a DE9F, and only one rotary switch. Interestingly, it uses the same connectors and cables, so maybe it would work. The important bit would be the SLU cable, which is the 10-way ribbon. I expect that's the same, though I've never tried it. You can set the console baud rate, word size and parity with the DIP switches on the KDx11-B itself. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Xerox 820 documentation.

by James＠jdfogg.com

> Hi I own an Old Xerox 820 machine, > Can anyone help to find documentation for it ? > Also is there a way to download programs onto it using the > serial/parallel port ? Doesn't it have 8 inch diskette drives?

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

TU56/TC11 restoration - Power supply question

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Ashley Carder" <wacarder at usit.net> ---snip--- > >I'd be interested in hearing any horror stories relating to exploding >capacitors and more info on the proper caution that needs to be >exercised when messing with old power supplies. > >Ashley > > Hi When I used to work for Intel, we'd do incoming inspection on powersupplies. We had a box called the coffin that we'd power them up in. I'd never been at the test location when one went off but there were enough dents in the box from the inside to attest to the explosive forces. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Belay that last request... HHC info.

by zmerch＠30below.com

Awrighty... 1) I opened up a super-sized can of dammitallanyway, and found a used Spectroline PR-320T for about $30 more; $130 shipped, give or take. I *really* don't need that much of an eraser, but WTF - I guess I'm really loaded for bear now. (the sucker'll do 42 eproms in 6-11 minutes... or so the dox say) -- It's a $729 eraser new. 2) I read the HHC Basic eprom, it appears to have read good. Opening up the .bin file in goatpad [ erm; notepad ] I found the 2-letter error prefixen, the Microsoft Basic copyright thingy, and a reference to: NEIL K & HENRY L ... I'm guessing these are the programmers; or at least the guys who ported it over to the HHC. 3) So far, I have a list of people (4 currently) who want Basic chips... I think this is fair[1]; and should cover my costs & whatnot: First Basic chip: $8 - each additional Basic chip, $3 and US shipping of $3.50 (USPS Priority). I'll throw in 4 extra empty[2] chips for free if you want 'em. If you're not in the US, lemme know where ya live, and I'll quote ya the difference in shipping... but with such a small package, I doubt it would be much. (The last time I shipped something that small to Great Britain, it was less than /pounds 5, IIRC.) Trades may well still be an option, but I'm not willing to trade for an EPROM eraser anymore... ;-) I'm throwing in the double-padded mailers, static bags, other whatnot, etc... Anyway, lemme know what y'all think! Laterz, Roger "Merch" Merchberger [1] If you don't think so, lemme know! [2] Now that I'll be able to make 'em forget en masse... -- Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers zmerch at 30below.com Hi! I am a .signature virus. Copy me into your .signature to join in!

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

TU56/TC11 restoration - Power supply question

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Ashley Carder" <wacarder at usit.net> > > >> > On a related note...any special concerns on an initial powerup of a >> > TU-56 that has not been turned on for possibly 5+ years....?? >> >> Any solid DC supplies that match the requirements of the TC11/TU56 >> should be fine. The TU56 on my 8-e has a non-DEC supply and it seems to >> work fine. > >Guy said: >> Other than the usual caution about capacitors in power supplies.... > >Since I am fairly new to the hardware end of this stuff and just started >messing with it less about 8 or 9 months ago, can you give me >a little primer on the caution of capacitors in power supplies? > >Ashley Hi Ashley There is an issue with dry tantalum capacitors blowing up. As far as I know, there is nothing that can be done other than hitting them with the power and replacing those that blow. It helps to have a power supply that can handle a momentary shorts or that is fused so it doesn't damage the supply. Wet electrolytics have a problem in that they tend to degrade over time. During normal running, they produce a small amount of gas that is intended to diffuse through the seal. This is a normal part of maintaining the capacitor. The problem is that when you turn one on that has been sitting for a few years, it can do one of two things. One is that it will reform the capacitor but out gas fast enough to burst the seal. This will cause total failure after a short period of time because of evaporated electrolyte. The next is that it will over heat and short. It will usually burst the seal as well. Not much to do here other than replace. One can reform old electrolytics that are still sealed by bringing the voltage up slowly. Here is where many have different opinions. Some say to use a variac and bring the voltage up slowly over many hours to days. I don't like this method but have used it successfully in the past. I prefer connecting the capacitors ( removed from the curcuit ) to a limiting source and allowing the voltage to float up as the capacitor forms. This is a good way to deal with capacitors that are screw mounted. I use a limited source that will allow no more than 5 to 10 ma or 1/4w ( which ever is first depending on voltage for larger capacitors ). Some computer grade capacitors are very leaky when good and may require more than 10 ma but I find few will recover with much more leakage. One should also take care with switching supplies. Many supplies will blow up if the input voltage is below the specified operating range for any length of time. Some switchers will do OK if there is no load and the input is low while some will go crazy with no load. For switchers you really have to form the capacitors by disconnecting and not using a variac. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

TU56/TC11 restoration - Power supply question

by dvcorbin＠optonline.net

> So the moral of the story is to bring a long-dormant power > supply up slowly, using a variac and loads, and to be vigilant > for any signs of cap leakage, swelling, getting suddenly warm, > or hissing sounds coming from one. > The trick here being that the "HUGE" cap's are NOT part of a powersupply per se [which is external to the unit], but rather are part of the internal electronics [motor control].

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Hardware offer: intellec mds

by jbglaw＠lug-owl.de

Hi all! A friend of me got an intellec mds, with adaptors and two 8" FDDs, to be given to a good home. We've even found a "system" labeled floppy in one of the drives, but we've not attempted to switch on the machine. It stood on the board for about 10 years, so at least a PSU check and a bit of cleaning (for being unused for about 10 years it's however quite clean...). So basically, here's an intellec mds, untested, available in Bielefeld, Germany, for free (excl. shipping costs). If anybody wants to get it, please drop me an email. MfG, JBG -- Jan-Benedict Glaw jbglaw at lug-owl.de . +49-172-7608481 _ O _ "Eine Freie Meinung in einem Freien Kopf | Gegen Zensur | Gegen Krieg _ _ O fuer einen Freien Staat voll Freier B?rger" | im Internet! | im Irak! O O O ret = do_actions((curr | FREE_SPEECH) & ~(NEW_COPYRIGHT_LAW | DRM | TCPA));

21 years, 2 months

3
4
0 0

I have a VAX 6400 that I don't want anymore

by kapteynr＠cboe.com

I know that it's not a desktop. I have seen VAX installations as big as a semi trailer, and then I've seen the desk sized ones. So far I have limited my collection to "hobbyist" classics like my Altair and H8. But a "business" machine like a VAX could be cute too. Especially if it has a front panel with lots of lights and switches ? I tried to find photos on the web, but no quick success. Thanks, -Rob -----Original Message----- From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Zane H. Healy Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 12:22 PM To: 9000 VAX; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-TopicPosts Subject: Re: I have a VAX 6400 that I don't want anymore At 12:21 PM -0500 3/16/05, 9000 VAX wrote: >On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 10:38:33 -0600, Kapteyn, Rob <kapteynr at cboe.com> wrote: >> I am really close to this and I have storage space, but I don't >>know exactly what the 6400 is. >> I worked with an 11/780 in college, and that's too big for me to handle. >> A desk sized VAX (like a microVAX) would be fun to play with. > >It is desk size, if you lay it down. It is narrow and tall, but the >volume is similar to that of a desk. Somehow I think he meant desktop sized :^) Unless of course he's planning to get a pair of BA123's or BA23's and put piece of plywood on top to use them as a desk :^) Zane -- -- | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | | healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast | | | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |

21 years, 2 months

5
6
0 0

RQDX3 on an 11/23?

by dbetz＠xlisper.mv.com

I have a PDP-11/23 and would like to add a hard disk. Would the RQDX3 be the way to go? What do I need besides the board itself and an MFM drive? Obviously, I need some sort of cable to connect the two. Is there anything else I need? Will RT-11 V5 support an MFM drive on an RQDX3?

21 years, 2 months

5
10
0 0

OT: What is a .SC4 document?

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

Does anyone happen to know what a .SC4 file is. It was written on a Linux system in 1998 (most likely Red Hat), and I think it was some sort of spreadsheet. Any idea what I can open it with? Zane -- -- | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | | healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast | | | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |

21 years, 2 months

5
7
0 0

VCF East 3.0 ?

by news＠computercollector.com

They're planning for Indiana (Purdue U.). FYI, there are several other events (and related events still interesting to we nerds) listed on my web site. I plan to update the list again soon; submissions are encouraged! --- Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> wrote: > Bob Brown wrote: > > When/where will the VCF Midwest be? > > Oo! Please say Illinois! Evan's personal homepage: www.snarc.net *** Tell your friends about the Computer Collector Newsletter! - It's free and we'll never send spam or share your email address - Publishing every Monday(-ish), ask about writing for us - Mainframes to videogames, hardware and software, we cover it all - W: http://news.computercollector.com E: news at computercollector.com - We're approaching 700 readers: win a prize!

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Hardware offer: intellec mds

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Jan-Benedict Glaw" <jbglaw at lug-owl.de> > >On Wed, 2005-03-16 13:03:31 +0100, Jan-Benedict Glaw <jbglaw at lug-owl.de> >wrote in message <20050316120331.GX19265 at lug-owl.de>: > >> So basically, here's an intellec mds, untested, available in Bielefeld, >> Germany, for free (excl. shipping costs). If anybody wants to get it, >> please drop me an email. > >Some question for the aftermath, which I'd better had prepared >beforehand. How is hardware transfer "normally" done on this list? Give >it to the first person who replied (discriminating those who can only >read emails once a day, or those that are currently asleep). Or shall I >wait a week and cast a lot? ...or pick the one that actually offered >money, hardware or beer in exchange? > >I (read that: my friend) don't want to make a fortune, it's only about >finding a new, good home. So you who already replied to me, please do it >once again with a suggestion how to solve my unpreparedness :) Hi I would first wait for 24 hours. Next select out any that are willing to pay a rediculously high price or are willing to pick it up locally. Then write email to all those others that requested to let them know that they are not currently being considered. Of the selected group, request from each a description of why they believe they should be selected ( less than 1K words ). Make your choice then. Also let the others know that they were not selected as well but if the first person backed out, they might still have a chance. Just my thoughts Dwight PS wish I was in Germany. > >MfG, JBG > >-- >Jan-Benedict Glaw jbglaw at lug-owl.de . +49-172-7608481 _ O _ >"Eine Freie Meinung in einem Freien Kopf | Gegen Zensur | Gegen Krieg _ _ O > fuer einen Freien Staat voll Freier B??rger" | im Internet! | im Irak! O O O >ret = do_actions((curr | FREE_SPEECH) & ~(NEW_COPYRIGHT_LAW | DRM | TCPA)); > >

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

TU56 restoration

by dvcorbin＠optonline.net

> David, do you have all the TU56 manuals and prints that you need? I > have several TU56 manuals and the TC11 manual and prints (which > would not apply to your PDP-8 implementation). > NO! [are they available on BitSavers????]

21 years, 2 months

4
5
0 0

OT Troubleshooting: Old computers with modern parts

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Tom Jennings" <tomj at wps.com> > >CMOS isn't *THAT* sensitive; easy, benign, reasonable precautions >are more than adequate. Ben, the days of early MOS/CMOS >hypersensitivity to static are long gone. Even 1970's 4000 series >had input-protection diodes. The 4051,4052 and 4053 were very static sensitive. But it is try that most were relatively insensitive. Still, if you are hitting a part with a spark large enough to make a sound, you are most likely doing some damage, even if it doesn't show right away. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

8
7
0 0

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb