23 May
1999
23 May
'99
2:39 p.m.
<RAM16 A3 board in the machine currently. Then I'll have 56k. Perhaps
<then I'll be able to load and use CP/M 2.2. =-D
CPM needs memory starting from 0000h. and dependinghow is was sysgend or
move'd anywhere from 20k all the way up to E800h (base of the FDC).
Currently the only version of CPM I have for the NS is V1.4 for the single
density controller. When I went to CPM2.2 I used a different controller.
The upside is there is burried on the WC CPM cdrom a few BIOSs for the NS*
controller.
Allison
23 May
23 May
2:56 p.m.
<RAM16 A3 board in the machine currently. Then
I'll have 56k. Perhaps
<then I'll be able to load and use CP/M 2.2. =-D
CPM needs memory starting from 0000h. and dependinghow is was sysgend or
move'd anywhere from 20k all the way up to E800h (base of the FDC).
Currently the only version of CPM I have for the NS is V1.4 for the single
density controller. When I went to CPM2.2 I used a different controller.
The upside is there is burried on the WC CPM cdrom a few BIOSs for the NS*
controller.
Hmmm...I've got a couple CPM 2.2 boot disks from Don Maslin. I've got a
query into him right now to see where they want to load etc. My machine's
memory starts at 2000h and I tried booting just for giggles and that's
obviously not going to work! =-D There's nothing on the Northstar that
naturally wants to live from 0000h to 1FFFh is there? I notice N* DOS
wants to load at 2000h so I wonder. Hmmmm...
BTW, I've got another N* chassis in the garage in highly crustated
condition that I'm considering trying to resurrect now that I've got
one working. It's just the motherboard and chassis. I've got an A1
revision Northstar CPU card and, once I repair the A3 Ram 16 card,
I'll have an A2 revision RAM card available.
I have to figure out what I do for mass storage.
Hmmmm...
Anthony Clifton
4:02 p.m.
New subject: Northstar Woe is Me
So I've got BASIC loaded and I'm doing a CATALOG of a disk
from Doug Coward and lots of garbage starts spewing out
of the
terminal and now the machine won't boot again. Everything is
grounded properly and I don't usually have static problems in
the basement (too humid) so I'm assuming something chose that
particular moment to die.
*sigh* Back to the test bench again! I've fixed this thing
now twice already! Guess once more won't hurt. I go upstairs
and tell my wife my tale of woe and she responds that it was
impressive that I fixed it the first two times.
*sigh* Still it depresses me. Oh well.
Anthony Clifton
4:08 p.m.
New subject: Northstar Woe is NOT Me
Apparently the Northstar needed a break. I turned it off for about
10 minutes, powered it back on and *poof* now it boots! What gives?
I'm not used to this "subtle shades of grey" thing. I'm used to
machines that either work or don't. This "I'm gonna freak out
and then be ok in a few minutes" thing is just weird to me.
Now it's running the STARTREK BASIC game from Creative Computing.
Frankly, I'm starting to wonder how long it really takes for
the voltage levels to drop low enough for things to be 'reset'.
Goofy. Am I just made or what?
Anthony Clifton
4:24 p.m.
New subject: Northstar Woe is NOT Me
Apparently the Northstar needed a break. I turned it off for about
10 minutes, powered it back on and *poof* now it boots! What gives?
I'm not used to this "subtle shades of grey" thing. I'm used to
machines that either work or don't. This "I'm gonna freak out
and then be ok in a few minutes" thing is just weird to me.
Now it's running the STARTREK BASIC game from Creative Computing.
Frankly, I'm starting to wonder how long it really takes for
the voltage levels to drop low enough for things to be 'reset'.
Goofy. Am I just made or what?
Anthony Clifton
I'm no expert in electronics by any stretch, but this almost sounds like a
thermal thing. The computer gets warm and whatever happens happens. When
it cools off the function returns.
--
Jim Strickland
jim(a)DIESPAMMERSCUMcalico.litterbox.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vote Meadocrat! Bill and Opus in 2000 - Who ELSE is there?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
24 May
24 May
12:30 a.m.
New subject: Northstar Woe is NOT Me
On Sun, 23 May 1999, Anthony Clifton - Wirehead wrote:
Apparently the Northstar needed a break. I turned it off for about
10 minutes, powered it back on and *poof* now it boots! What gives?
It may be that one of the many 5V regulators got too hot and shut down.
Only was is to test with a meter if it happens again.
I'm not used to this "subtle shades of
grey" thing. I'm used to
machines that either work or don't. This "I'm gonna freak out
and then be ok in a few minutes" thing is just weird to me.
Compared to an Altair the NS was a walk in the park!
Frankly, I'm starting to wonder how long it really
takes for
the voltage levels to drop low enough for things to be 'reset'.
Actually very short time for reset and the hardware reset on the back is
quite literally hardware reset. But beware of the 8V CD bus as that takes
a good 1-3 minutes to drop to near zero and inserting or removing a board
too soon after power off can be very BAD.
Despite 21 years with my first NS* the second one has proven a bit weird
as well. it took a bus terminator from my CCS system to take it down.
The only difference is the old system on average always had at least 5
boards plgged in and the current one only three.
If you want to try terminating the bus use this combo...
330ohms between the +5 and the signal line and a 220 ohm between
ground and the signal line.
That will terminate the bus so there is less noise and also it wil
assure a "open" line has a logic 1 (of about 3V).
Terminate all teh control lines (10-15 of them), data in and data
out. No need to do all 92 lines (some are gound, power or
unused). Also many signals are unimplmented like the interrupt
lines to the cpu.
One last source of problems on most any old machine is if cheap sockets
were used. Some of the RN sockets were just plain crap. I had trouble
with sockets back in summer of 79 after a lightening hit and many ICs
replaced and eventually had to pull ALL the sockets and solder teh chips
downn. It's been solid since.
Allison
5:40 a.m.
New subject: Northstar Woe is NOT Me
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9345
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6 comments
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participants (4)
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allisonp＠world.std.com -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
jim＠calico.litterbox.com -
wirehead＠retrocomputing.com