8 Mar
2005
8 Mar
'05
10:15 p.m.
I'm building my personal library for vintage computing. I need to
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books must a "wannabe"
collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Although I collect primarily DEC stuff, I don't want my knowledge to
be just restricted to what DEC had to offer.
p.s. Don Lancaster's books are the first on my list. :-)
/wai-sun
8 Mar
8 Mar
10:34 p.m.
I'm building my personal library for vintage
computing. I need to
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books must a "wannabe"
collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Although I collect primarily DEC stuff, I don't want my knowledge to
be just restricted to what DEC had to offer.
Two leap to mind:
IBM's Early Computers
IBM's System 360 and Early 370 Computers
These are both very serious works.
I hope the same guys continue on...
William Donzelli
aw288 at osfn.org
10:43 p.m.
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 22:34:48 -0500 (EST), William Donzelli
<aw288 at osfn.org> wrote:
Two leap to mind:
IBM's Early Computers
IBM's System 360 and Early 370 Computers
Good suggestions. Thanks.
I'm seriously lacking intellectually in the mainframes arena... :-)
p.s. Do these include the early IC technologies (SLT, etc.) that IBM
used to build the 360s with?
/wai-sun
10:58 p.m.
Good suggestions. Thanks.
I'm seriously lacking intellectually in the mainframes arena... :-)
p.s. Do these include the early IC technologies (SLT, etc.) that IBM
used to build the 360s with?
Yes, all your previous questions about SLT would have been answered.
The nice thing about these books is the quality of research - sources
galore. The history is pretty well covered - why choices were made in the
design of the machines, who was involved, and alternatives that just did
not make it. Plus some really geeky pictures of Amdahl and Shugart.
The bad thing is that the books are sometimes hard to find.
William Donzelli
aw288 at osfn.org
10:59 p.m.
Another general-skills must have...
"PET and the IEEE 488 Bus (GPIB)" (Eudgen Fisher, C.W. Jensen, 1980,
McGraw-Hill Inc. ISBN: 0-93198803104)
Yes, it's written from the point of view of interfacing a PET and understanding
how a PET talks on the bus, but there's _lots_ of info about how the bus works
in general, IMHO enough information to be able to build a device of your own
from scratch that would be able to talk to a PET, et
al.
For DEC application of this book, remember that a IBV11 card (IEEE-488) was
standard on a MINC laboratory computer (11/03 or 11/23-based, running RT-11)
-ethan
11:08 p.m.
William wrote:
IBM's Early Computers
IBM's System 360 and Early 370 Computers
[...] I hope the same guys continue on...
Memories That Shaped an Industry: Decisions Leading to IBM System/360,
by Emerson W. Pugh
Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its Technology, by Emerson W. Pugh
9 Mar
9 Mar
12:04 a.m.
At 10:34 PM -0500 3/8/05, William Donzelli wrote:
Two leap to mind:
IBM's Early Computers
IBM's System 360 and Early 370 Computers
These are both very serious works.
I hope the same guys continue on...
Serious is an understatement, I was lucky enough to pick up the
360/370 book. It's a "weighty" volume to say the least. Highly
recommended! I'll have to keep my eye out for the other one.
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/ |
8 Mar
8 Mar
10:37 p.m.
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 11:15:27 +0800, Wai-Sun Chia <waisun.chia at gmail.com> wrote:
I'm building my personal library for vintage
computing. I need to
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books must a "wannabe"
collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Horowitz and Hill, "The Art of Electronics"
I have the student guide (a soft-cover companion volume), but not the
primary book itself. I did have access to one for the entire time I
was at the Pole. Read it cover to cover 3 times.
Can't wait to find one that I can afford to buy.
-ethan
11:02 p.m.
Ethan Dicks wrote:
Horowitz and Hill, "The Art of Electronics"
I have the student guide (a soft-cover companion volume), but not the
primary book itself. I did have access to one for the entire time I
was at the Pole. Read it cover to cover 3 times.
Can't wait to find one that I can afford to buy.
-ethan
One book I wish they had is "Just what do you call that?", in the sence
I am doing a bit of homebrewing and have not the foggiest idea of just
what connectors, nuts, bolts, clips and cable for computer hardware is
called.
Well I need a dozen of umm them ... Or tables like what hole size do I need
for that connector or wire gage in the PCB layout .
Ben Alias Woodelf
PS:
Now that you are back in the real world will you be doing any spring
cleaning
and have stuff for sale?
11:10 p.m.
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 22:37:25 -0500, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 11:15:27 +0800, Wai-Sun Chia
<waisun.chia at gmail.com> wrote:
Horowitz and Hill, "The Art of Electronics"
I have the student guide (a soft-cover companion volume), but not the
primary book itself. I did have access to one for the entire time I
was at the Pole. Read it cover to cover 3 times.
Yeah. That's the electronics geek bible.
I bit the bullet and bought it a couple of years back when I was even poorer.
Cost me a pretty penny..had to sacrifice some "luxuries" in order to
afford it..like food.
But I have never regretted buying it. :-)
*pops over to amazon* it still costs $55.79 (new) today. I suppose
good stuff won't come cheap...
/ws
11:27 p.m.
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 12:10:15 +0800, Wai-Sun Chia <waisun.chia at gmail.com> wrote:
Yeah. That's the electronics geek bible.
I bit the bullet and bought it a couple of years back when I was even poorer.
Cost me a pretty penny..had to sacrifice some "luxuries" in order to
afford it..like food.
But I have never regretted buying it. :-)
I feel the same way about my copy of "Computer Networks" by Andy
Tanenbaum (of Minix fame)... really good stuff in there.
*pops over to amazon* it still costs $55.79 (new)
today. I suppose
good stuff won't come cheap...
That's not a bad price, really. Less than I paid for either my
"Minix" or "Computer Networks" book.
-ethan
11:33 p.m.
Just scratching the surface...
"Digital at Work", by Jamie Parker Pearson, ed.
the best single history of Digital.
"A Computer Perspective", by Eames
cool illustrated Timeline that was sponsored by IBM.
"Computer Lib / Dream Machines" by Ted Nelson
about computing in the 1970's by the hypertext guy.
"Digital Deli" by Steve Ditlea
gets into deeper detail than Nelson's work.
"A guide to collecting computers and computer collectibles",
by Kevin Stumpf. quirky, quirky.
remember: "Collectible Microcomputers", by Michael Nadeau
"Planning A Computer System" as was just mentioned is an excellent find.
John A.
10:40 p.m.
At 11:15 AM +0800 3/9/05, Wai-Sun Chia wrote:
I'm building my personal library for vintage
computing. I need to
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books must a "wannabe"
collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Although I collect primarily DEC stuff, I don't want my knowledge to
be just restricted to what DEC had to offer.
If you're primarily interested in DEC stuff, a good collection of DEC
Handbooks is a must, as is a Doc Set for each of the OS's that you're
interested in. If you're into PDP-8's, the 3 Volume -8/e/f/m
Maintenance Manual set is excellent as well. Remember any DEC
hardware from before the 90's is going to be *well* documented, if
you can find copies of the books!
p.s. Don Lancaster's books are the first on my
list. :-)
/wai-sun
I've got the TV Typewriter book, and I think some other stuff by him,
and as a DEC collector it's only of mild interest.
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/ |
9 Mar
9 Mar
6:59 p.m.
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 19:40:54 -0800
"Zane H. Healy" <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote:
At 11:15 AM +0800 3/9/05, Wai-Sun Chia wrote:
Depending on your level of understanding of hardware, if you're a DEC
hardware enthusiast, Lancaster's 'TTL Cookbook' could be considered a
MUST intro to small/medium scale TTL Logic.
Or are most DEC enthusiasts interested in the pre-TTL era hardware?
I'm building my personal library for vintage
computing. I need to
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books must a
"wannabe" collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Although I collect primarily DEC stuff, I don't want my knowledge to
be just restricted to what DEC had to offer.
If you're primarily interested in DEC stuff, a good collection of DEC
Handbooks is a must, as is a Doc Set for each of the OS's that you're
interested in. If you're into PDP-8's, the 3 Volume -8/e/f/m
Maintenance Manual set is excellent as well. Remember any DEC
hardware from before the 90's is going to be *well* documented, if
you can find copies of the books!
p.s. Don Lancaster's books are the first on my
list. :-)
/wai-sun
I've got the TV Typewriter book, and I think some other stuff by him,
and as a DEC collector it's only of mild interest.
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/ |
7:41 p.m.
p.s. Don Lancaster's books are the first on my
list. :-)
/wai-sun
I've got the TV Typewriter book, and I think some other stuff by him,
and as a DEC collector it's only of mild interest.
Zane
8 Mar
8 Mar
11:04 p.m.
Wai-Sun wrote:
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books
must a "wannabe"
collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Here are some that I highly recommend. My own interests are heavily
focused on pre-1980 system architecture and hardware design.
General:
IBM's Early Computers, by Charles J. Bashe et al., MIT Press
IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems, by Emerson W. Pugh et al., MIT Press
A History of Personal Workstations, by Adele Goldberg et al.,
Addison-Wesley
A History of Modern Computing, by Paul E. Ceruzzi, MIT Press
Very technical:
Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design,
by C. Gordon Bell et al., Digital Press
Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution, by Blaauw and Brooks,
Addison-Wesley (>1200 page hardcover single volume, but apparently
sometimes found in two volumes instead. Includes very detailed
architectural info on many systems.)
Computer Structures: Readings and Examples, by C. Gordon Bell et al.,
McGraw-Hill
Computer Structures: Principles and Examples, by D. Siewiorek et al.,
McGraw-Hill (This is sort of a second edition of Readings and Examples,
but I recommend getting both as each have some unique material.)
Planning a Computer System: Project Stretch, by Werner Buchholz et al.,
McGraw-Hill (How, What and Why of the IBM 7030 Data Processing
System, aka "Stretch". Good insight into what computer architects
were thinking about in the late 1950s and very early 1960s. Some
ideas are dated, but some are still remarkably current.)
Design of a Computer: The Control Data 6600, by Jim Thornton,
Scott, Foresman & Company (available online at bitsavers.org)
Computer System Organization: The B5700/B6700 Series, by E. Organick,
Academic Press
11:40 p.m.
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 20:04:01 -0800 (PST), Eric Smith <eric at brouhaha.com> wrote:
Very technical:
Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design,
by C. Gordon Bell et al., Digital Press
This is one of my prized collection. I fought a blood-feud auction and
won it a couple of years ago. I forgot the final price but I think it
was $70++ :-p
*sigh* the obsession... *shakes head*
*grabs the copy* *caresses it*
/ws
11:47 p.m.
Wai-Sun Chia wrote:
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 20:04:01 -0800 (PST), Eric Smith
<eric at brouhaha.com> wrote:
Some of Bell's books are online, that is how I got to read them.
Ben alias woodelf.
Very technical:
Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design,
by C. Gordon Bell et al., Digital Press
This is one of my prized collection. I fought a blood-feud auction and
won it a couple of years ago. I forgot the final price but I think it
was $70++ :-p
*sigh* the obsession... *shakes head*
*grabs the copy* *caresses it*
/ws
9 Mar
9 Mar
12:51 a.m.
On Tuesday 08 March 2005 23:40, Wai-Sun Chia wrote:
That's ok, you'll be glad to know I just purchased a copy on amazon for
about $7.50 :)
There are some books I gladly paid $$big_bux for, including the W.
Richard Stevens TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 1, Advanced Programming in the
Unix Environment, and his Unix Network Programming (vol 1 & 2) books.
Must haves, IMHO, for anyone doing programming on Unix/Linux machines,
and still in print. :)
Most of my vintage computer books & manuals I've been lucky enough to
grab either cheaply ($5-$10) or as they were being thrown out. A
proper VMS grey or orange wall is a necessity for any VAX-ite. Mine is
orange. :)
Pat
--
Purdue University ITAP/RCS --- http://www.itap.purdue.edu/rcs/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 20:04:01 -0800 (PST), Eric Smith
<eric at brouhaha.com> wrote:
Very
technical:
Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design,
by C. Gordon Bell et al., Digital Press
This is one of my prized collection. I fought a blood-feud auction
and won it a couple of years ago. I forgot the final price but I
think it was $70++ :-p
*sigh* the obsession... *shakes head*
*grabs the copy* *caresses it*
1:03 a.m.
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 00:51:40 -0500, Patrick Finnegan
<pat at computer-refuge.org> wrote:
That's ok, you'll be glad to know I just purchased a copy on amazon for
about $7.50 :)
Yeah. Thanks....NOT
*the pain*
Note to self: Forget eBay when it comes to books. Amazon prices for
used books are much better.
There are some books I gladly paid $$big_bux for, including the W.
Richard Stevens TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 1, Advanced Programming in the
Unix Environment, and his Unix Network Programming (vol 1 & 2) books.
Must haves, IMHO, for anyone doing programming on Unix/Linux machines,
and still in print. :)
Oooh the guru himself. :-) Yeah I have those too.
Saving for the new (posthumous) edition.
Most of my vintage computer books & manuals I've been lucky enough to
grab either cheaply ($5-$10) or as they were being thrown out. A
proper VMS grey or orange wall is a necessity for any VAX-ite. Mine is
orange. :)
What existed before the orange wall?
/wai-sun
1:11 a.m.
On Wednesday 09 March 2005 01:03, Wai-Sun Chia wrote:
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 00:51:40 -0500, Patrick Finnegan
<pat at computer-refuge.org> wrote:
An empty bookcase? :)
I've got RSX-11 and RT-11 stuff that's in orange binders as well. I'm
not sure what was before that; it may have only been bound books, but I
don't have any DEC docs that are pre-orange binder and aren't
soft-cover bound.
Pat
--
Purdue University ITAP/RCS --- http://www.itap.purdue.edu/rcs/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
A proper VMS grey or orange wall is a necessity
for any VAX-ite.
Mine is orange. :)
What existed before the orange wall?
2:08 a.m.
I've got RSX-11 and RT-11 stuff that's in
orange binders as well. I'm
not sure what was before that; it may have only been bound books, but I
don't have any DEC docs that are pre-orange binder and aren't
soft-cover bound.
RT-11 V3 is dark blue, V4 and V5 are orange.
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/ |
1:07 a.m.
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 00:51:40 -0500, Patrick Finnegan
<pat at computer-refuge.org> wrote:
I think Gordon Bell has made that one available on-line.
>
Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design,
> by C. Gordon Bell et al., Digital Press
That's ok, you'll be glad to know I just purchased a copy on amazon for
about $7.50 :) There are some books I gladly paid $$big_bux for,
including the W.
Richard Stevens TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 1, Advanced Programming in the
Unix Environment, and his Unix Network Programming (vol 1 & 2) books.
Must haves, IMHO, for anyone doing programming on Unix/Linux machines,
and still in print. :)
Agreed... those are important books for anyone who does serious UNIX
programming. I have copies, too... bought new for $$$.
Most of my vintage computer books & manuals
I've been lucky enough to
grab either cheaply ($5-$10) or as they were being thrown out. A
proper VMS grey or orange wall is a necessity for any VAX-ite. Mine is
orange. :)
Nice. I have an orange _and_ a grey wall... courtesy of a former
employer (plus RSTS,
RSX, RT-11, and a shelf of VMS 1.0 manuals waiting for Bob Supnik to finish his
VAX-11/780 emulator that's being done for the express purpose of being
able to run
VMS 1.0)
-ethan
7:10 p.m.
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 01:07:24 -0500
Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 00:51:40 -0500, Patrick Finnegan
<pat at computer-refuge.org> wrote:
I think Gordon Bell has made that one available on-line.
It's also nice to have a vintage-era UNIX manual set. I acquired a
complete comb-bound copy of the BSD manuals for 4.3 BSD (second
printing, June 1987) awhile back.
Most of the aprocryphal knowlege in this set is available elsewhere, but
there's something just 'right' about reading 'An Introduction to Display
Editing with Vi' (USD:15) by Bill Joy, rather than just the O'Reilly
book.
And, as Brian W. Kernighan says in USD:12 (A Tutorial Introduction to
the UNIX Text Editor):
"Almost all text input on the UNIX operating system is done with the
text-editor ed."
further in:
"Do the excercises! They cover material not completely discussed in the
actual text."
further yet:
"The easiest way to get ed is to type:
ed (followed by a return)
You are now ready to go - ed is waiting for you to tell it what to do."
>
Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design,
> by C. Gordon Bell et al., Digital Press
That's ok, you'll be glad to know I just purchased a copy on amazon
for about $7.50 :) There are some books I gladly paid $$big_bux for,
including the W.
Richard Stevens TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 1, Advanced Programming in
the Unix Environment, and his Unix Network Programming (vol 1 & 2)
books. Must haves, IMHO, for anyone doing programming on Unix/Linux
machines, and still in print. :)
Agreed... those are important books for anyone who does serious UNIX
programming. I have copies, too... bought new for $$$.
9:07 p.m.
Free for shippping costs:
"Programming in assembly language: MACRO11"
Edward F. Sowell
(for PDP11)
Peter Wallace
8 Mar
8 Mar
11:26 p.m.
On Mar 8, 2005, at 8:15 PM, Wai-Sun Chia wrote:
I'm building my personal library for vintage
computing. I need to
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books must a "wannabe"
collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Although I collect primarily DEC stuff, I don't want my knowledge to
be just restricted to what DEC had to offer.
p.s. Don Lancaster's books are the first on my list. :-)
/wai-sun
"The Art of Digital Design", Prosser & Winkel (isbn 0-13-046780-4)
Out of print, but you can often find copies on amazon and abebooks.com
It leads you to two different PDP-8 designs - one purely combinatorial
and
the other microprogrammed (2901-based).
Mike
11:29 p.m.
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 21:26:03 -0700, Mike Cesari <mcesari at comcast.net> wrote:
"The Art of Digital Design", Prosser &
Winkel (isbn 0-13-046780-4)
Out of print, but you can often find copies on amazon and abebooks.com
It leads you to two different PDP-8 designs - one purely combinatorial
and the other microprogrammed (2901-based).
That sounds like a hoot... I'm big on 12 bits, and I have a few 2901s
in my parts bin...
-ethan
11:44 p.m.
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 21:26:03 -0700, Mike Cesari <mcesari at comcast.net> wrote:
"The Art of Digital Design", Prosser &
Winkel (isbn 0-13-046780-4)
Out of print, but you can often find copies on amazon and abebooks.com
And I just did... ordered it, too. Thanks for the tip.
-ethan
9 Mar
9 Mar
12:26 a.m.
At 11:44 PM -0500 3/8/05, Ethan Dicks wrote:
On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 21:26:03 -0700, Mike Cesari
<mcesari at comcast.net> wrote:
Grumble... You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get my copy!!!
I've got some more books along this line, unfortunately they're all
up in storage right now. My favorite is one that gives a bunch of
juicy details on the CPU design of various Mini's of the 70's.
I'm "lucky" enough to live close enough to "Powell's Technical
Books"
that I make it down there once or twice a year, and I love to browse
their section of historical computing books (50's and 60's). I've
found many cool books there. BTW, I say "lucky" because a trip to
Powell's Technical is typically very expensive :^) I'd recommend
anyone visiting the Portland area stop in at the Technical store at a
minimum (the main bookstore a couple blocks away can be an all day
trip).
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/ |
"The Art of Digital Design", Prosser
& Winkel (isbn 0-13-046780-4)
Out of print, but you can often find copies on amazon and abebooks.com
And I just did... ordered it, too. Thanks for the tip. 
9:36 a.m.
New subject: Mick & Brick's Bit-Slice MicroProcessor Design Re: Must have books for Vintage Computing
At 09:26 PM 3/8/05 -0800, Zane wrote:
I'm "lucky" enough to live close enough to "Powell's Technical
Books"
that I make it down there once or twice a year, and I love to browse
their section of historical computing books (50's and 60's). I've
found many cool books there. BTW, I say "lucky" because a trip to
Powell's Technical is typically very expensive :^) I'd recommend
anyone visiting the Portland area stop in at the Technical store at a
minimum (the main bookstore a couple blocks away can be an all day
trip).
Zane is right, if you ever get to Portland make sure you leave time to
visit Powells. It's WELL worth the trip. FWIW several of the countys in
this area operate stores where they sell used, obselete and/or donated
library books. I've found lots of good books there for almost nothing.
Finds include HP-41 manuals, 'IBM's Early Computers', 'TV
Typewriter',
numberous DEC manuals, lots of old CPM and early MS-DOS manauls and
software, LOADS of data books, etc etc.
Another suggestion is Mick & Brick's book 'Bit-Slice MicroProcessor
Design'. Hmmm. I was getting ready to put some books on E-bay and I have
an extra copy of Mick & brick. I think I'll throw it on there too. Let's
see, I also have 'LSI PDP 11/03 Processor Handbook' and 'VAX Technical
Summary' that I don't need. I'll throw them on there too.
Joe
11:14 a.m.
New subject: Mick & Brick's Bit-Slice MicroProcessor Design Re: Must have books for Vintage Computing
visit Powells. It's WELL worth the trip. FWIW
several of the countys in
this area operate stores where they sell used, obselete and/or donated
library books. I've found lots of good books there for almost nothing.
I've not had very good luck with Library sales, though I did find an
interesting Hardback on Serial cables (basically a book on the
various pinouts). Where I've had *very* good luck is with a annual
booksale that a local Women's Charity has.
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/ |
10 Mar
10 Mar
2:28 a.m.
New subject: Mick & Brick's Bit-Slice MicroProcessor Design Re: Must have books for Vintage Computing
Zane H. Healy wrote (after Joe Rigdon):
Hardcover book on serial cables. Hmm..._RS-232 Made Easy_? I'm
thinking it was printed in two editions at least one of which was
published in both hardcover and softcover.
On the library sales. Your (Zane's) problem is probably that you have
Powell's right there, and either whoever is operating the sale is
picking out technical books to Powell's because they think they can't
get as much from the "retail" customers like you, or there are book
scouts out looking for stuff to resell (likely to Powell's).
-Frank McConnell
visit Powells.
It's WELL worth the trip. FWIW several of the countys in
this area operate stores where they sell used, obselete and/or donated
library books. I've found lots of good books there for almost nothing.
I've not had very good luck with Library sales, though I did find an
interesting Hardback on Serial cables (basically a book on the various
pinouts). Where I've had *very* good luck is with a annual booksale
that a local Women's Charity has. 
9 Mar
9 Mar
4:54 p.m.
New subject: Mick & Brick's Bit-Slice MicroProcessor Design Re: Must have books for Vintage Computing
"Joe R." wrote:
...
Another suggestion is Mick & Brick's book
'Bit-Slice MicroProcessor
Design'.
this is one of my all time favorites.
the other suggestions where good but this one taught me how to pipeline.
-brad
12:31 a.m.
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 11:15:27 +0800, Wai-Sun Chia <waisun.chia at gmail.com> wrote:
I'm building my personal library for vintage
computing. I need to
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books must a "wannabe"
collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Although I collect primarily DEC stuff, I don't want my knowledge to
be just restricted to what DEC had to offer.
I have:
VAX Architecture Reference Manual (1987)
The visible Computer: 8088 (1986)
The 8088 Project Book (1989)
iAPX88 Book (1983)
vax, 9000
p.s. Don Lancaster's books are the first on my list. :-)
/wai-sun
7:14 p.m.
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 00:31:38 -0500
9000 VAX <vax9000 at gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 11:15:27 +0800, Wai-Sun Chia
<waisun.chia at gmail.com> wrote:
'The 8088 Project Book' is what kicked off my 8088-based single board
computer project. It leaves a LOT of the software-related part of
things as 'an excercize for the reader,' though.
Any book that progresses a step-at-a-time to build an 8088 based
computer on those white solderless breadboards HAS to be cool.
-Scott
I'm building my personal library for vintage
computing. I need to
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books must a
"wannabe" collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Although I collect primarily DEC stuff, I don't want my knowledge to
be just restricted to what DEC had to offer.
I have:
VAX Architecture Reference Manual (1987)
The visible Computer: 8088 (1986)
The 8088 Project Book (1989)
iAPX88 Book (1983)
7:30 p.m.
On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 11:15:27 +0800
Wai-Sun Chia <waisun.chia at gmail.com> wrote:
I'm building my personal library for vintage
computing. I need to
probe the collective wisdom of the list in what books must a "wannabe"
collector (like me) should have on his/her bookshelf.
Although I collect primarily DEC stuff, I don't want my knowledge to
be just restricted to what DEC had to offer.
p.s. Don Lancaster's books are the first on my list. :-)
/wai-sun
To provide a 'modern' fork to this discussion: The Mindshare series of
books, published by Addison-Wesley, are quite valuable. It deals with
that dreaded 'PeeCee' hardware, but is almost the ONLY place to get
rigorous coverage of the ISA Bus, the PCI Bus, and so on. So much 'PC'
related material is badly translated little stapled manuals from
Taiwanese motherboard vendors or 'high level' books containing
screenshots of 'the latest from Redmond' that it was refreshing when I
discovered the Mindshare series.
Also good in this vein is: "The 80x86 IBM PC and Compatible Computers
(Volumes I & II) Assembly Language, Design, and Interfacing." by Mazidi
and Mazidi, Prentice Hall, 1998. It's a book that takes the reader down
to the bare hardware without flinching, and, again, without ANY of the
fluffy B.S. that almost everything associated with the PeeCee gets mired
in. I paid $100 for my new copy at the bookstore without (almost)
flinching.
To go truly ancient:
The 'Radiotron Designer's Handbook' edited by F. Langford Smith,
published by RCA in the 1940s. It's the 'Horowitz and Hill' of the
vacuum-tube era. My copies are both US reprintings (a 1941 and a 1945
edition), the original edition is Australian.
But that's radio and electronics stuff.
7070
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7071
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