4 Aug
2016
4 Aug
'16
1:58 a.m.
Thought I would post this here in case it reaches eyes my forum posts don't. ?So I
finally got my hands on a SWTPC 6800! ?
This machine is chock full of boards.. 4 ram boards, the cpu card (with SWTBUG ROM), MP-S,
MP-C serial cards, a floppy controller, some little custom board, a sound card.. etc.
This presents some challenges obviously, since the machine has been altered from stock it
could be tricky getting it running.
Before I had it stripped down, I tried powering up as is (i pulled the older MP-C card and
put MP-S in slot 1). ?This produced little except for a string of random characters that
would repeat every time I hit reset, exactly the same number.
I tried stripping it down to CPU card, MP-S, and the RAM board designated as '0'..
but all I get at the terminal end is a single random character on power up. ?
I then thought I'd try my luck putting the CPU card in my working MSI system (taking
out its card). ?Nope. ?
Now, because my CPU card has been modified to accomodate SWTBUG and possibly something
else, I'm not sure if it'll even work in a stripped down config. ?Not sure about
the interplay between boards.
Anyway.. if anyone has any thoughts to point me in the right direction I'd be most
appreciative. ?Ultimately I'd like to get this beast working with my CT1024
terminals.
Brad
Sent from my Samsung device
4 Aug
4 Aug
2:54 a.m.
On 8/3/2016 10:58 PM, Brad H wrote:
Thought I would post this here in case it reaches eyes my forum posts don't. So I
finally got my hands on a SWTPC 6800!
This machine is chock full of boards.. 4 ram boards, the cpu card (with SWTBUG ROM),
MP-S, MP-C serial cards, a floppy controller, some little custom board, a sound card..
etc.
This presents some challenges obviously, since the machine has been altered from stock it
could be tricky getting it running.
Before I had it stripped down, I tried powering up as is (i pulled the older MP-C card
and put MP-S in slot 1). This produced little except for a string of random characters
that would repeat every time I hit reset, exactly the same number.
I tried stripping it down to CPU card, MP-S, and the RAM board designated as
'0'.. but all I get at the terminal end is a single random character on power up.
I then thought I'd try my luck putting the CPU card in my working MSI system (taking
out its card). Nope.
Now, because my CPU card has been modified to accomodate SWTBUG and possibly something
else, I'm not sure if it'll even work in a stripped down config. Not sure about
the interplay between boards.
Anyway.. if anyone has any thoughts to point me in the right direction I'd be most
appreciative. Ultimately I'd like to get this beast working with my CT1024
terminals.
Brad
I saw an SWTPC booth registered at VCF West, maybe you should drop by.
I'll look in and see what they have and maybe they can help too.
Only SWTPC gizmo I have is one of their audio amplifiers somewhere in
the pile. Picked up at TRW Swap Meet.
Thanks
jim
8:19 a.m.
On Aug 4, 2016 2:54 AM, "jim stephens" <jwsmail at jwsss.com> wrote:
I'll look in and see what they have and maybe they can help too.
On 8/3/2016 10:58 PM, Brad H wrote:
>
> Thought I would post this here in case it reaches eyes my forum
posts
don't. So I finally got my hands on a SWTPC 6800!
> This machine is chock full of boards.. 4 ram
boards, the cpu card (with
SWTBUG ROM), MP-S, MP-C serial cards, a floppy
controller, some little
custom board, a sound card.. etc.
> This presents some challenges obviously, since the
machine has been
altered from stock it could be tricky getting it running.
> Before I had it stripped down, I tried powering up
as is (i pulled the
older MP-C card and put MP-S in slot 1). This produced little
except for a
string of random characters that would repeat every time I hit reset,
exactly the same number.
> I tried stripping it down to CPU card, MP-S, and
the RAM board
designated as '0'.. but all I get at the terminal end is a
single random
character on power up.
> I then thought I'd try my luck putting the CPU
card in my working MSI
system (taking out its card). Nope.
> Now, because my CPU card has been modified to
accomodate SWTBUG and
possibly something else, I'm not sure if it'll even
work in a stripped down
config. Not sure about the interplay between boards.
> Anyway.. if anyone has any thoughts to point me in
the right direction
I'd be most appreciative. Ultimately I'd like to get
this beast working
with my CT1024 terminals.
Brad
I saw an SWTPC booth registered at VCF West, maybe you should drop by.
Only SWTPC gizmo I have is one of their audio amplifiers somewhere in the
pile.
Picked up at TRW Swap Meet.
Thanks
jim
You need to start with the power supply. Verify it's ok. Then work
through each card's jumpers to see how they are set. For example the MP-S
has baud rate setting options, and the card can be used with a Teletype or
RS232 terminal. 1200 is max baud.
If you're getting a consistent but garbled output to the screen did you
confirm the baud rate you're using matches the MP-S jumpers?
All of this is well documented online, Mike Holley has a step by step set
up on his site. A few years ago I retyped the entire code listing of TSC
BASIC which can be downloaded into bare bones SWTPC 6800
11:10 a.m.
On 2016-08-04 8:19 AM, william degnan wrote:
...
All of this is well documented online, Mike Holley has a step by step set
up on his site. A few years ago I retyped the entire code listing of TSC
BASIC which can be downloaded into bare bones SWTPC 6800
Same one as this?
http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/TSC_MicroBasic/TSC_MicroBasic.htm
--Toby
2:45 p.m.
On Aug 4, 2016 11:11 AM, "Toby Thain" <toby at telegraphics.com.au>
wrote:
On 2016-08-04 8:19 AM, william degnan wrote:
Yes. I typed it in using my teletype and punch to make the tape. Long
story why.
Bill Degnan
twitter: billdeg
vintagecomputer.net
...
All of this is well documented online, Mike Holley has a step by step set
up on his site. A few years ago I retyped the entire code listing of TSC
BASIC which can be downloaded into bare bones SWTPC 6800
Same one as this?
http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/TSC_MicroBasic/TSC_MicroBasic.htm
--Toby
3:16 p.m.
Hi Brad,
On Wed, Aug 03, 2016 at 10:58:44PM -0700, Brad H wrote:
Thought I would post this here in case it reaches eyes my forum posts don't. ?So I
finally got my hands on a SWTPC 6800! ?
This machine is chock full of boards.. 4 ram boards, the cpu card (with SWTBUG ROM),
MP-S, MP-C serial cards, a floppy controller, some little custom board, a sound card..
etc.
This presents some challenges obviously, since the machine has been altered from stock it
could be tricky getting it running.
...
There was someone with a table at VCF-East for the past two years who had
new SWTPC replica and enhanced interface boards. He also had interesting
kim-1 peripheral boards, with things such as booting from SD-card support.
I cannot remember his name right now, but I have one of his coffee mugs
somewhere, so can find it out and follow up, if no one else beats me to it.
Mark
--
Mark G. Thomas (Mark at Misty.com), KC3DRE
3:27 p.m.
On Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 3:16 PM, Mark G Thomas <Mark at misty.com> wrote:
There was someone with a table at VCF-East for the
past two years who had
new SWTPC replica and enhanced interface boards. He also had interesting
kim-1 peripheral boards, with things such as booting from SD-card support.
I cannot remember his name right now, but I have one of his coffee mugs
somewhere, so can find it out and follow up, if no one else beats me to it.
http://www.corshamtech.com/
3:28 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Mark G
Thomas
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2016 3:17 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: SWTPC 6800
Hi Brad,
On Wed, Aug 03, 2016 at 10:58:44PM -0700, Brad H wrote:
Thought I would post this here in case it reaches eyes my forum posts
don't. ?So I finally got my hands on a SWTPC 6800! This machine is chock
full
of boards.. 4 ram boards, the cpu card (with SWTBUG ROM), MP-S, MP-C
serial cards, a floppy controller, some little custom board, a sound card..
etc.
This presents some challenges obviously, since the
machine has been
altered from stock it could be tricky getting it running.
...
There was someone with a table at VCF-East for the past two years who had
new SWTPC replica and enhanced interface boards. He also had interesting
kim-1 peripheral boards, with things such as booting from SD-card support.
I cannot remember his name right now, but I have one of his coffee mugs
somewhere, so can find it out and follow up, if no one else beats me to it.
Mark
--
Sounds like http://www.corshamtech.com/
-----
5 Aug
5 Aug
1:58 a.m.
I think this 6800 is live but I am being dogged by my inabilities when it
comes to cabling. I'm going to purchase a 'proper' db25 female connector
and the molex pins for the MP-S connector and solder it up. I tried sort of
using jumper wires to make it go. When I turn the 6800 on, the PC terminal
I'm using reacts by producing single or strings of random characters.
According to the SWTPC 'system checkout' stuff, if I get anything at all
showing up on the terminal it usually means the 6800 is alive. Based on the
notes written on the MP-S, I'm confident I have the correct baud rate and
bit (8) and parity (1) settings, but alas, doesn't seem to work. When I ran
into this sort of thing with MSI 6800 it turned out the baud rate switch on
the serial card wasn't correct, despite factory labelling. That might be
the case here but not really sure how to sort it.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Paul Birkel
Sent: Thursday, August 4, 2016 12:29 PM
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: RE: SWTPC 6800
2:33 a.m.
"Random Stuff" on serial ports can be a speed, data-bits, or even parity
mis-match.
I assume you have tried tweaking these?
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Brad H
Sent: 05 August 2016 06:58
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: RE: SWTPC 6800
I think this 6800 is live but I am being dogged by my inabilities when it
comes
to cabling. I'm going to purchase a
'proper' db25 female connector and
the
molex pins for the MP-S connector and solder it up. I
tried sort of using
jumper wires to make it go. When I turn the 6800 on, the PC terminal I'm
using reacts by producing single or strings of random characters.
According to the SWTPC 'system checkout' stuff, if I get anything at all
showing up on the terminal it usually means the 6800 is alive. Based on
the
notes written on the MP-S, I'm confident I have
the correct baud rate and
bit
(8) and parity (1) settings, but alas, doesn't
seem to work. When I ran
into
this sort of thing with MSI 6800 it turned out the
baud rate switch on the
serial card wasn't correct, despite factory labelling. That might be the
case
here but not really sure how to sort it.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Paul
Birkel
Sent: Thursday, August 4, 2016 12:29 PM
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: RE: SWTPC 6800
2:34 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Brad H
Sent: 05 August 2016 06:58
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: RE: SWTPC 6800
I think this 6800 is live but I am being dogged by my inabilities when it
comes
to cabling. I'm going to purchase a
'proper' db25 female connector and
the
molex pins for the MP-S connector and solder it up. I
tried sort of using
jumper wires to make it go. When I turn the 6800 on, the PC terminal I'm
using reacts by producing single or strings of random characters.
Sounds like you have the proper connections...
According to the SWTPC 'system checkout'
stuff, if I get anything at all
showing up on the terminal it usually means the 6800 is alive. Based on
the
notes written on the MP-S, I'm confident I have
the correct baud rate and
bit
(8) and parity (1) settings, but alas, doesn't
seem to work. When I ran
into
this sort of thing with MSI 6800 it turned out the
baud rate switch on the
serial card wasn't correct, despite factory labelling. That might be the
case
here but not really sure how to sort it.
Try different speeds in your terminal emaulation program?
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Paul
Birkel
Sent: Thursday, August 4, 2016 12:29 PM
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: RE: SWTPC 6800
2980
days inactive
2981
days old
10 comments
8 participants
participants (8)
-
billdegnan＠gmail.com -
cliendo＠gmail.com -
dave.g4ugm＠gmail.com -
jwsmail＠jwsss.com -
Mark＠Misty.com -
pbirkel＠gmail.com -
toby＠telegraphics.com.au -
vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net