test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by earl_evans＠yahoo.com

Hey Cameron, I'd be one of your first customers if you did :-) Just read a little about this device in the book "Fire In The Valley". (Book review coming...) Sounds like it was kind of groundbreaking, being among the first kits to provide a keypad for input, as opposed to toggle switches, etc. They have one on display at Powell's Technical Bookstore in Portland, OR. Wish I had one that I could light up. Maybe someday... EE --- Cameron Kaiser <ckaiser(a)oa.ptloma.edu> wrote: [snip] (Earl, I'll > gladly start a KIM-1 page on retrobits. :-) ===== Earl Evans retro(a)retrobits.com Enjoy Retrocomputing Today! Join us at http://www.retrobits.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com

26 years

TU58 Peripheral Emulation

by mew_jac＠swbell.net

I believe Tim Shoppa has a TU58 emulator product. Maybe Tim can tell us the state and cost of the product? I also have some code gathered up over the last few years for DOS and Linux. If anyone is interested I can dig it out... Regards, At 11:19 PM 3/25/00 -0700, you wrote: > >The main problem with the version on dBit's ftp site is it assumes >VAX byte order. The command packets are loaded byte for byte into >the data structure which messes up all the shorts. The same problem >exists for the response packets. > >clint > > >On Fri, 24 Mar 2000, Allison J Parent wrote: > >> >> <I've already asked John Wilson this, but has anyone compiled the one >> <available on dBit's ftp site for Linux? Or know of another one for >> <Linux/Windows that's available online? I'd like to try it out... >> >> I've looked at it and it's a bit old but should work. All a tu58 is >> if you ignor the tape drive itself is a 256k block addressable memeory at >> the end of a serial line talking a packet protocal. It only took 2048 >> bytes (with selftest and autoboot) of 8085 code to do it so it's not >> rocket science. >> >> Now to do that on a PC or whatever running most any OS is to beable to >> create a datafile of 256k and address any 512bytes block within it. So if >> you look at that code most of the work is working aound the OS! >> >> Allison >> >> >> >> > >

26 years

laptop failure modes

by red＠bears.org

I have a laptop given to me by a former co-worker who claimed it was broken. It doesn't fall into the ten-year category, but I've heard people complaining of failures just like this one in many other laptops. The laptop won't run if the battery is in the unit. AC or DC. If the battery is pulled, it will run on the AC adapter just fine. The battery itself seems fine as does the charging circuit. I can discharge the battery, insert it into the machine and have it be charged later (according to the charge indicator on the battery; I haven't checked it out with a DMM or anything). What is likely to cause this sort of fault? ok r.

26 years

Slightly OT: Need IBM Penpoint install disks for ThinkPad 730t

by nerdware＠laidbak.com

Yes, I know it's not that old, but if anyone would have a copy of an oddball OS, it'd be you guys..... I have a couple of 730t's that work, complete with the cute little PCMCIA hard drives, and the suitcase docking station with the Kodak Diconix printer. Only problem is, the OS is password locked and there seems to be no way around it. A friend has one drive with a clean, unlocked OS, but there is something about the little drives that Ghost just doesn't like. The tech at IBM was clueless, so I need the original install disks so I can wipe my machine back into usefulness. Anyone able to help? Thanks. Paul Braun NerdWare -- The History of the PC and the Nerds who brought it to you. nerdware(a)laidbak.com www.laidbak.com/nerdware

26 years

TU58 Peripheral Emulation

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I've already asked John Wilson this, but has anyone compiled the one <available on dBit's ftp site for Linux? Or know of another one for <Linux/Windows that's available online? I'd like to try it out... I've looked at it and it's a bit old but should work. All a tu58 is if you ignor the tape drive itself is a 256k block addressable memeory at the end of a serial line talking a packet protocal. It only took 2048 bytes (with selftest and autoboot) of 8085 code to do it so it's not rocket science. Now to do that on a PC or whatever running most any OS is to beable to create a datafile of 256k and address any 512bytes block within it. So if you look at that code most of the work is working aound the OS! Allison

26 years

Parallel port hard drives?

by paulrsm＠ameritech.net

> Does anyone know of any parallel port hard drives that will work with with > my Sharp PC-7000? I only ask because, for some odd reason, whenever I copy a > DOS program to a floppy (360K) in Windows, it does not want to work on the > Sharp, but works flawlessly on the Windows box (in a DOS window, of > course!). What could be happening? Is there something obvious that I'm not > doing right? Are you using a 1.2MB floppy drive to write a 360K floppy disk?

26 years

Drives on PDP-11

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I have a full backup of the drive via COPY. I would like to graft a <different hard disk onto this machine. If the second slot is clear you can run two hard disks. that means pulling the floppy to do it. You don't however wire it like a PC. <How do connect the second drive? There are connections for a second <drive but both are on the machine and not with the 34 pin connector <daisy-chained to the first drive as is normal. Do I terminate each drive <in this "Y" configuration? What drive number should it be? Drive 4 I <suspect as the first and only hard disk is set at 3 and is terminated. No. You use two 34s and two 22s you will see drive o and drive 1 on the plate behind the HD/floppies. RT11 has a logical drive limit of 32mb so a good drive is the RD52 (quantum D540) as it's both 31mb and of all the MFM drives I've used it's rugged and reliable. The largest drivew the RQDX3 can handle is 16hx17sectors by some 2048 cylinders (~500mb) but the largest ever used by DEC was the RD54 (159mb, Maxtor 2190). <How would I configure drive geometry to match the drive I am installing? If the drive is formatted DEC compatable (PC cant!) the controller is smart enough to figure it out. If the drive is formattet non-dec you need the PDP-11 formatter to do it or a microvax2000 (has a formatter in rom). <The object of installing a second hard disk is to create a bootable clone <of the first one. A bump in disk space is allways cool but I want a <bootable clone as a backup at least. You can backup to floppies. RX50 is ~400kb a disk. <Does the ST506-type controller have enough Shugart SA400 about it that it The controller is not a the PC style of st506(which is a drive interface standard). The RQDX controller is extremely smart and has it's own PDP-11 in the form of the T-11 chip. The controller take the MSCP protocal and does a lot of work to translate that high level protocal to actual drive activity. I does so basic caching and queueing as well and uses DMA to get and put command and data. Nothing like that in your average PC that used similar MFM drives. <is running the floppies as drive id's 1 and 2? It would explain a lot. Sa400, never much too small. If it is RQDX3 (dual width board) then you can use or or two of the TEAC FD55GFV to get both RX50 (400kb) and RX33 1.2mb formats. <How difficult is it to substitute a standard double-sided floppy mech for <the wierd but nifty-looking floppy drives that are in it now? For those <of you still wondering, it has an RX50-AA double-drive unit that cannot be <formatted by the computer but can be read. Correct, formatting is not permitted by the controller due to software and the DEC RX50 drives were junk. You can format disks on PCs... PUTR can but you much have dual mode 1.2mb drive like the teac mentiond. <Will I be able to format media on the machine if I DO replace the drives? No. Yo need the diagnostic to drive the controller. <Can I substitute a standared 40trk X DS X DD mechanism or an 1.2mb 5.25" NO. Both the RX50 and the FD55gfv are 96tpi. <mech to accomplish this? The connections look standard though I have not <opened the base enclosure for the floppy mechanism for a look at it's <cabling yet. The cabling and interface will run standard 5.25 96tpi drives. Bet you got more than you wanted. But all of the burried majik is why in 1987 11/23 (or 11/73) could support a raft of users with a cpu that some considered a wimp compared to the mighty 386/16(which still cant) Allison

26 years

Parallel port hard drives?

by netsurfer_x1＠hotmail.com

Does anyone know of any parallel port hard drives that will work with with my Sharp PC-7000? I only ask because, for some odd reason, whenever I copy a DOS program to a floppy (360K) in Windows, it does not want to work on the Sharp, but works flawlessly on the Windows box (in a DOS window, of course!). What could be happening? Is there something obvious that I'm not doing right? ____________________________________________________________ David Vohs, Digital Archaeologist & Computer Historian. Computer Collection: "Triumph": Commodore 64C, 1802, 1541, FSD-1, GeoRAM 512, Okimate 20. "Leela": Macintosh 128 (Plus upgrade), Nova SCSI HDD, Imagewriter II. "Delorean": TI-99/4A. "Monolith": Apple Macintosh Portable. "Spectrum": Tandy Color Computer 3. "Boombox": Sharp PC-7000. ____________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

26 years

Drives on PDP-11

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>I have a full backup of the drive via COPY. Onto....? Is your backup bootable? > I would like to graft a >different hard disk onto this machine. > >I have available in ST506-type is a fujitsu 40mb and a seagate st4096. >How do connect the second drive? The official way is with a 6-button front panel for your box... but you've got a bigger question to ask yourself first: is your disk controller a RQDX1 (M8639-YA), a RQDX2 (M8639-YB), or a RQDX3 (M7555)? The answer will determine what sort of drives you can hook up. >How would I configure drive geometry to match the drive I am installing? You have to format the "new" drive with the appropriate XXDP formatting program, ZRQB?? for a RQDX1/2, or ZRQC?? for a RQDX3. >How difficult is it to substitute a standard double-sided floppy mech for >the wierd but nifty-looking floppy drives that are in it now? You're asking a lot of really basic questions about this sort of stuff, enough to indicate to me that you haven't read the definitive FAQ about the small DEC drive systems of this era. I highly recommend that you read "third-party-disks.txt" available from ftp.spc.edu and other places, it will answer a *lot* of your questions like this. But, the short of it is, if you have a RQDX1 or 2 you can't put the same drives on it as if you had a RQDX3, and we can't make any specific recommendations until you tell us which you have. -- 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

26 years

PDP-11/23 deskside machine

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<It looks like the m7605 quarter-inch streaming tape controller has a bad <PAL? and won't let the ram test continue. I removed it from the machine No idea where you'd get one. <and will look for a replacement IC to get it running. I don't have the <drive anyway. Thanks for your quick response Allison! The machine does <run just fine it appears even without the controller in. Gotta love PDP-11s. ;) <RT11 Version 5 / CTS 300 Version 8 is the system rev that posts at <startup. Killer, CTS300 on it! Nice, very nice! Sounds like it was configured as a multiuser system. Allison

26 years

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