29 Aug
2001
29 Aug
'01
3:29 p.m.
> To improve the odds slightly:
> a major hint (relating to more than one card):
> there has never been a parallel (centronics style) printer connected to
> the machine, although there could have been. Since that gives away that a
> female DB25 is, indeed, a parallel port, then based on what you already
> know about the machine, what IS connected there?
On Wed, 29 Aug 2001, Tony Duell wrote:
If it was my machine I would say something like a PROM
programmer or
PAL/GAL programmer, or something like that. But you said this was an
I had two
other machines on the next table over from it that had PROM
programmers (One was a "Sunshine", I don't remember what the other one
was).
office machine (not a lab machine) so I guess it's
not that.
NO, I said that it was used IN my office. That wouldn't make my scope or
soldering stuff "office equipment" either. It was used for desktop
publishing and some disk format conversion. I had some other machines
across the room that WERE office (telephone log, shipping, accounting,
etc.)
To make use of the first hint (DB25 and DC37 cabled to a switch box), you
would have to consider what kinds of things used DB25 and DC37
interchangeably. There was no parallel printer. But to do desktop
publishing, there would usually be a printer. The first two cards were
both controllers for CX laser printer. One was a JLaser Plus, which used
a DB25 female cabled to the CX engine (in this case through a switch box),
and had a DE9 female for scanner.
I don't remember for sure what the other laser printer controller was -
maybe an Eiconscript.
The other female DB25 (parallel) was used for a MicroSolutions
"Backpack" parallel port 2.8M floppy.
The 50 pin dual row header was, as you had guessed, SCSI. It was used for
a floptical (1.4M/20M floppy)
If the DE9 that's not MDA/CGA/EGA/PGC is some
high-res mono video then
You were right. It was a Wyse 700/Amdek 1280 (1280 x 800
B&W video)
The other DE9 female was, as you had guessed, bus mouse.
maybe you have a scanner connected here.
Had a
Canon IX12 connected for a while to the Jlaser Plus, but it never
worked very well.
Or I gueesed you had at least one tape controller. So
maybe you have some
parallel port storage device (tape streamer, Zip drive, etc)
No permanently connected tape. Occasionally I would connect an Irwin tape
in place of one of the floppies.
I think so. When 80 cylinder disks were in common use,
then it made sense
for manufacturers to make only one type of disk, which was
80-cylinder-capable. When the only sort of DD disks that were commonly
used were the 40 cylinder '360K' ones, then I guess manufacturers could
get away with only making disks specified for that use, and they could
make slightly poorer and cheaper disks as a result.
If anybody ever comes up with the prize, then you can have most or all of
the 80 cyl spec'ed 300 Oerstedts.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com