Does anyone have any pointers to sites on the web which cover Altos
machines? I've done a search on Yahoo and a couple of other places and
turned up nothing.
I'm particularly interested in information on the Unix systems they were
making around 1990 - we had one at work, an i386 in a tower case. Not PC
compatible IIRC, possibly called an "Altos III" or something similar.
While I'm on the subject, would anyone in the UK have one of these they want
rid of?
TTFN - Pete.
--
Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer.
Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC)
peter.pachla(a)wintermute.org.uk | www.wintermute.org.uk
--
I have somewhere a GAO report that lists the problems, lifetimes, and
quantities of data that the US government has on different magnetic media.
IIRC the big problem with magentic media is that it is never stored in the
correct environmental conditions that provide optimum lifetimes. They
included pictures of piles of 9-track tapes of LANDSAT data, some of the
stacks were used to block open the door to the tape library. Humidity and
heat are big problems for tape.
Here are several references about data storage and media
Preserving Digital Objects: Recurrent Needs and Challenges. Michael Lesk.
Bellcore. Abstract. We do not know today what Mozart sounded like on the...
URL: www.lesk.com/mlesk/auspres/aus.html
. Effects of Humidity on Life Expectancy of Media. Long-Term Preservation of
Dig <http://www.safesupplies.com/article1.html>
Long-Term Preservation of Digital Materials. Dr. John W.C. Van
Bogart National Media Laboratory. Presented at the National Preservation
Office (NPO)...
URL: www.safesupplies.com/article1.htmlhttp://www.cclabs.missouri.edu/~ccgreg/tapes.html
Magnetic Tape and Digital Media Life Expectancies
Preservation of New Technology
<http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/lesk/lesk2.html>
...as digital media, DAT cartridges, 9-track tape in...
...example, half-inch 9-track magnetic tape densities have...
palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/lesk/lesk2.html - Cached
</search?q=cache:palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/lesk/lesk2.html> - 58k -
GoogleScout
</search?num=10&q=related:palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/lesk/lesk2.html>
I think that the September 1995 issue of Scientific American had an article
about preserving digital data.
Mike
>> The 3.5" square (exactly) daughter board plugs directly into and
>> only into where the Z80 CPU normally resides. The board contains:
>> Z80 CPU, AM25LS252IPC, 2 x SN74LS245N, SN74LS00N, 74F32PC chips
>> with assorted resistors etc. There is a 26 way berg connector to
>> take the cable to the IEEE-488 port. Also there is a 8-way link
>> box with 5 unbroken links, 2 broken links and 1 remade link.
> I don't like to say things like this, but I think I am justified...
>'Impossible!'
> You've got an address decoder (AM25LS2521 == 74LS688 IIRC), a
> couple of bidirectional bus buffers ('245s), and a few gates ('00
> NANDs and '32 ORs). What you don't have is any form of latch, which
> is what you'd need for an output port. Since the IEEE-488 bus can
> run a lot more slowly than the Z80 bus, it's going to need such
> latches, at least for output. There are several possibilites.
> Either you've missed out some chips (like '374s, or even a true
> IEEE-488 chip like the 9914 or 7210). Or this is _not_ the IEEE-488
> option. I suspect the latter, actually. I would be very suprised if
> the RML IEE-488 option was a daughtercard that fitted under the
> CPU. Everything I can find out about it suggests it's a normal Z50
> bus card. This sounds like some kind of bus buffering/extension
> card, sort of like the IDE interface (although obviously
> incompatable with the PC type of IDE). Are you sure this is not
> some kind of strange winchester interface. It could well be the
> host adapter for (say) a WD1001 card or something like that.
Please feel free to say 'impossible' - my knowledge of electronics
at this level is minimal. I will now write out 100 times 'Failure
to pay due regard to warnings repeatedly given, brings in its train
dire consequences which might easily been avoided by the use of a
little self restraint' (school line). As you have pointed out
whatever this is, the person who installed it just made use of
the convenient sized hole marked IEEE port. Nothing which
came with the equipment (originally from Oxford University,
then from Biomechanical Engineering at UWCM (University of
Wales, College of Medicine), used that port.
Doug.
>I am spending all my time right now packing and rackmounting - I have no
>time to write anything. I will have some people come over and feed in the
>paper tape this weekend. While I won't be able to archive most of it, I do
>hope to at least read in most of the source code on paper tape. (I have over
>310 PDP-1 paper tapes alone).
>
>This program needs to be *very* easy to use and hopefully supports
>X/Y-MODEM. I will set up a terminal program at this end that supports 32
>character file names (windows 98). This program would have to run under
>RT11-V3B, or RT11V4 BL. Hopefully it would send the code down a serial line
>separate serial port.
Umm, what's wrong with Kermit? The latest Kermit for RT does just fine under
RT-11 V4, and Kermit is available for just about every other piece
of hardware ever created. See ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/
>It would be really nice if this software just asked the end user to load a
>paper tape, then huit return, and it sends the data read out a separate
>serial port, then prompts to load the next one.
What sort of paper tape reader are you using? If it's a serial reader,
you can hook it straight up to a PC-clone running MS-DOS and MS-Kermit
(or Linux and C-Kermit) and archive the tapes that way. Both MS-Kermit
and C-Kermit include powerful scripting languages.
Remember, you *don't* have to start from scratch, others of us have
been archiving this sort of stuff for many years.
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
--- "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh(a)aracnet.com> wrote:
> Personally, when and if mine ever shows up at CC, then I'll be paying with
> *cash*.
Don't sweat it. NP has already said that only units ordered directly
>from them are subject to automatic account activation on the credit card
that ordered it. Fair or not; legal or not; that is their policy. Units
ordered through CC are not activated until plugged into the phone system
and turned on. After all, they ship those whenever and they sit around
at CC until they are bought (if they weren't 1000's of units backlogged ;-)
There's no way to regulate that.
The bad news is that NP is explictly shipping to direct customers in
preference to CC customers. Mine is still on backorder through CC and
likely will be for weeks. I'm number 10 out of 100 at my store alone.
There are six stores within driving distance. They have received two
units in two weeks. :-(
The only good news is that units with a 21-Mar-2000 manufacture date appear
to be unmodified. Who knows what the future may bring. For the $106 mine
will cost (with tax), I'll take the risk that I have to remove epoxy or
solder in a header.
-ethan
=====
Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to
vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com
The original webpage address is still going away. The
permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/
See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details.
__________________________________________________
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Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
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OK, I've got a wierd question now. What is the lifespan of Magnetic Media?
In this case, I'm concerned about 4mm DAT, but since I'm more familiar with
8mm it as an example.
Let's say I've got a stack of 8mm tapes with data on them. They're
supposed to be good for archival purposes, when stored in the proper
conditions for 2 years.
Now let's say I've got a brand new box of 8mm tapes that have been sitting
around still sealed for 8 years. Again, they've been stored in the proper
conditions more or less. So are they still good? Is the 2 year number for
their ability to hold data, or the actual physical lifespan. Anyone have
any ideas?
The real reason for the question is finding some 4mm tapes that are still
sealed, and I'd estimate about 8 years old.
Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
On Mar 30, 15:25, healyzh(a)aracnet.com wrote:
> > I think the 2 year is for reasonable useage.
>
> Actually the 2 year number is from a government study that I don't
believe
> is still online :^( It was refering to writing the data to tape and then
> sticking the tape in a vault. In other words an archive tape. They
found
> 8mm was good for 2 years, while DLT and 9-Track tapes were good for 10
> years.
>
> > New tapes should last for 30 to 40 years at least
> > with good storage. Tapes with data may not fare as well.
That seems logical to me. I wonder how much of the apparent data loss is
due to print-through? I was told that tapes ought to be rewound every year
or two to minimise the print-through effect. The idea is that by doing so,
you change the overlap between layers on the spool, and the effects cancel
out to some extent.
Having said that, I've just been reading some old cassette tapes on my
Exidy Sorcerer. I sold my original Sorcerer (and associated tapes) 20
years ago, but got a replacement (with no tapes at all) for my collection
recently. Last weekend, a friend brought me some tapes he'd found from
his, unused since 1980. I've managed to read every program I've tried so
far -- about a dozen -- on the four tapes I've tried. In a couple of
cases, I got errors on the first read, but no problem on the second. I
think that's probably due to the tape being more evenly wound/tensioned
after playing through and rewinding once, a common effect in compact
cassettes as I recall.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
On March 29, Technoid(a)cheta.net wrote:
> I have tried the 'n' command and it says it is not a command. If I enter
> "new" it responds "cpu cache enabled" which is not what I wanted at all.
> Is it possible this Sparcstation 330 (sparc 4/300) does not have the 'new'
> prompt at all? --
Nope...of all the models in the sun4/xxx family, only the 4/6xx has
OpenFirmware. The 4/1xx, 4/2xx, 4/3xx, and 4/4xx have sun3-style "old
mode" only.
-Dave McGuire
Bill and I spent the morning sorting through the Altos stuff we
had rescued, and this is what we think we have:
Altos 5 Box, Z-80 CPU, bunch of serial ports, two 5.25" floppy drives.
Also a binder full of Altos 5 documentation.
Altos 8000 Boxes (2 of them), Z-80 CPU's, bunch of serial ports, 8"
floppy drives, and a binder full of accompanying documentation.
Altos 68000 Boxes (3 of them), 68000 CPU's, one of the boxes has an
expansion board filled with RAM, two of the boxes have 8" hard drives,
all of the boxes have an 8" floppy drive, one of the boxes is missing
the panel on the back filled with serial ports.
We also have lots of Altos 8" software distribution floppies.
Condition is unknown. Some of the boxes have stickers from ten years
ago indicating that they were (at least partly) functioning back then,
but we haven't powered any of this stuff on.
Anyone interested? We will consider shipping these to a good home, though
we'd prefer to find local (Washington DC area) takers. You don't
have to take them all, you can pick and choose if you wish.
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
Whilst digging out some 380Z manuals I found a "Prime 2455" I'd forgotten I
had....
I'd like to have a bash at getting this going, but aside from needing OS
tapes (anyone help PLEASE?) the tape drive and hard drive have been removed
along with some sort of drive mounting tray.
Can anyone tell me what types/capacities of hard drive I can fit to this
machine, and what model of tape drive does it take (all I know is that the
tape and hard drives are SCSI devices)?
Also, I *NEED* the mounting tray/stage which fits inside the top of the
machine to which the drives attach. Anyone in the UK in a position to help?
TTFN - Pete.
--
Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer.
Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC)
peter.pachla(a)wintermute.org.uk | www.wintermute.org.uk
--
