Re: Wanted: IBM PC compatible 8 or 16 bit Arcnet cards
> > For my kids and their friends I used to set up several (up to like 5) > > bare motherboards first with lantastic 2MB cards and then NE2000 10mB > > compatible cards and play Doom over IPX back in the 90's. > > Yes. Thank you. IPX. That was the network layer. Mac Doom even plays over AppleTalk. LocalTalk suffered a bit though. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- LOAD"STANDARD DISCLAIMER",8,1 --
Samsung Ubigate iBG-1000 router
Well, DSL Extreme is getting out of the T1 business, leaving me high and dry (they've really gone to hell since GTT bought them out) since they don't offer a static IP option on any of their lines anymore. I'll be working around that problem for the next couple months while we move ... Anyway, I have a spare Ubigate iBG-1000 T1 router here set up by the tech, but no password to access it. It appears to be an embedded PowerPC system, around 603 level. I have some possible reset instructions and can access its serial console, but was wondering if anyone out there has the administration manual for it. It might be fun to repurpose it. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- PowerPC inside!
mirror of ftp://unix.hensa.ac.uk
Looking for some tools (guide_reader, others) that were apparently only on unix.hensa.ac.uk's FTP. This hostname still exists, but directs to University of Kent's mirror service, and there is no trace of the old archive. Anybody happen to have saved any pieces of it? -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- In memory of Peter Graves --
Re: AOL diskettes
>>> I can only conclude you needed something to save the surface on one of >>> these... >>> https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/floppy-disk-table/ >> >> I just love that table > > Although the ad says "1.44 megabytes", it is a 720K. > The write enable notch is not openable to write protect it, > and the shutter may have lost its spring.. The one *with* the spring working has a handy catch basin for your distal finger fragments. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I'm still right. ---
Re: Origin of "partition" in storage devices
>> There's several advantages to doing it that way, including balancing wear on >> a disk (especially today, with SSDs), as a dedicated swap partition could put >> undue wear on certain areas of disk. > > I thought avoiding this very problem was the purpose of the wear leveling > functions in SSD controllers. Yeah, it's all block level now. The controller shouldn't care about the purpose of an individual block. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- A/C was the worst thing that ever happened to Washington. -- Harry S Truman
Re: Commodore vic 20 poweroff
> I suspect none of this applies to the VIC-20 - the power switch just > disconnects the 120VAC from the wall in the same way that pulling the wall > plug out of its socket (or flipping the switch on a power-strip) would do - > but I don’t know this at all. Is that the case? Yes, it's just a hard cut of a voltage line. There's no software involved at all. Ditto really for any Commodore 8-bit. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Laughter is the closest distance between two people. -- Victor Borge ---
restoring a Silent 700 Model 765
I found my old Model 745 in storage and other than needing a print head clean and adjusting the printer contrast, it works splendidly. It has the manual and I've got some plugs to build it an RS-232 connector when I find some more round tuits. This whetted my appetite for other 700s, including the (in)famous bubble memory 763/765. I was able to land a set of 765 ASRs. One of them came with Telenet transcripts from The Source (various logins from 1978 to 1980), which was really cool reading. I'll scan these. However, neither of them work. Both power on, but they immediately go into COMMAND mode and sit there, which appears to be abnormal behaviour based on what I'm reading in the service manual (thanks, Bitsavers!). The NUM LOCK switch works and the paper advance works, but nothing else appears to elicit a response. One of them advances the page and acts like it's printing the command prompt, but the other one doesn't even do that. The service manual suggests I need to replace both the TMS 9980 and 8080 boards, which would really suck. I'm hopeful that the one that's "more active" has a working 9980 board and I can use the 8080 board from the other one. (I haven't even gotten to the bubble memory yet.) Anyone repaired these units or have an idea of a repair strategy other than replace damn near everything? TELENET 303 8A TERMINAL= @C 301 24 301 24 CONNECTED DIALCOM NETWORK SYSTEM 10 -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. -- da Vinci -
Re: restoring a Silent 700 Model 765
> I understand many Bubble memoryTi's were used by press. Does anyone have > adverts or articles on this? Need some backup material for our tools of the > journalist section weave one of the units to put in the display I'm not sure if the prior owner was a writer or just an interested subscriber, but there are United Press International transcripts here. On one of them (s)he compares what was entered into the bubble memory with what actually got transmitted. Couldn't say much more about it though from these. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Perl: the only language that makes Welsh look acceptable. -- David Cantrell
Re: restoring a Silent 700 Model 765
>> 301 24 CONNECTED >> DIALCOM NETWORK SYSTEM 10 >> > Please do scan these! It is hard as hell getting info on The Source > and also on Dialcom! Yes, I definitely plan to transcribe them. There is potentially some copyrighted material here but I think I can just excerpt that and still include all the rest of the login process, etc. Still, would be nice to get the terminal itself working and see what's in the ASR's bubble memory, assuming that's still operational, so any ideas people have would be appreciated. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- mouse, n: A device for pointing at the xterm in which you want to type.
Dialcom, Telenet and The Source was Re: restoring a Silent 700 Model 765
>>> 301 24 CONNECTED >>> DIALCOM NETWORK SYSTEM 10 >>> >> Please do scan these! It is hard as hell getting info on The Source >> and also on Dialcom! > > Yes, I definitely plan to transcribe them. There is potentially some > copyrighted material here but I think I can just excerpt that and still > include > all the rest of the login process, etc. > > Still, would be nice to get the terminal itself working and see what's in the > ASR's bubble memory, assuming that's still operational, so any ideas people > have would be appreciated. > I've now transcribed the teletype transcripts and included some scans from the manual, including a nice picture from InfoWorld in 1984 of the Prime hardware. https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2022/04/tonight-were-gonna-log-on-like-its-1979.html -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Humor is a drug which it's the fashion to abuse. -- William Gilbert
Re: Retro networking / WAN communities
> I don't have a 10Base2 switch, Were there ever actual true 10b2 switches? I've only ever seen them as hubs, and I haven't seen a 10bT switch that had a 10b2 port (all the 10bT devices I have with 10b2 ports are hubs). I just have one 10b2 system now, the VAXstation 3100 M76 (previously the HP 9000/350 was 10b2, but I replaced its IO board with a later one with an AUI port: http://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2021/04/refurb-weekend-hewlett-packard-9000350.html ). -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Proponents of other opinions will be merrily beaten to a bloody pulp. --
Re: Retro networking / WAN communities
>> I find myself interested in (at least) the following and would like to >> find others with similar (dis)interests to chat about things. >> >> - 10Base5 / 10Base2 / 10BaseT >> - ISDN >> - DSL / ADSL / SDSL / HDSL >> - T1 / E1 >> - ATM >> - Frame Relay >> - ARCnet >> - PSTN / PBX / PABX > > For your consideration: > > - Arpanet (NCP) > - Tymnet > - Chaosnet > - PUP > - UUCP If we're going to do Tymnet, we should definitely do Telenet. I'll also throw in SLIP, since I imagine most remote access nowadays is all PPP, and maybe even old school EtherTalk or LocalTalk. I had a T1 locally up until a couple months ago. I still have the smartjack and the wiring, but DSLX wouldn't support it anymore. They just left the T1 routers, too. They're embedded PowerPC systems I should figure out something fun to do with. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- MOVIE IDEA: The Never-Ending E-mail Signature --
Re: Retro networking / WAN communities
>>> I still have 10 Mb Ethernet at home (on my Pro, and while it's not in use I >>> have a few 10Base2 bits). >> Please expand "my Pro". There's not much to go on. >> #LivingRetroVicariouslyThoughOthers > DEC Professional 380 (and a caseless 350) -- PDP-11s with a screwball bus and > their own set of peripherals. I have an Ethernet card for one of them. > Working on the driver. I'd love Ethernet to work in Venix/PRO but I think my 380 is just going to have to do some user-level SLIP driver. I suppose that's something I could write up for gits and shiggles. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Maybe this world is another planet's hell. -- Aldous Huxley
Re: Not just slashed zeroes/ohs
> I still cross my zeds and sevens. And I propose that more people should do s > as handwriting continues to deteriorate into un-favomable scribble! So do I, but as a physician, my handwriting is already indecipherable. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Time makes more converts than reason. -- Thomas Payne --
Re: Not just slashed zeroes/ohs
> Cameron, do they teach indecipherable handwriting in med school? Seems to be > universal! It's probably the hand cramping after writing clinic notes all day. Unexpectedly, electronic medical records have made my handwriting worse, not better. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Focus is all about saying no. -- early Apple employee --
Re: Not just slashed zeroes/ohs
> Now with electronics records (EMRs) we just get legible but junk notes - copy > and paste for a week straight Yeah, I consider that lazy. I always rewrite my notes, even if I saw them myself the last time. It forces me to check the history and make sure nothing's changed (and that I didn't miss anything). -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- How do you explain school to a higher intelligence? -- Elliott in "E.T." ---
Re: DEC OSF/1 for i386?
> but I know at IBM we had 2 principle "ports" that we maintained (PPC Did this have anything to do with Apple's alleged "A/UX for PowerPC" which was supposedly OSF/1 based? -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Wouldn't your life be simpler if you were reading this on a Commodore 64? --
Looking for Silent 700 Model 765 lower board
These things must be cursed by G-d. I've landed three. Two had bad lower boards (the ones with the bubble memory and the main 9980 MCU) already. The third had a bad print mechanism. I replaced the printer mechanism, but the printhead on that was bad, so I powered it down and replaced the print head. I power it back up and its lower board suddenly stops responding too. Then, shortly after that, the upper board! (What is that circular metal can bolted down with wires exiting near the power switch? It squeals like a stuck pig.) I have plenty of bubble memory boards from these damn units, but what I need is a working lower board itself. Unless someone is experienced with board level repair and knows the typical faults on these. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Don't you just hate rhetorical questions? --
Re: OT: mail provider recommendation
> Gmail has ceased to provide classic authorization for smtp, pop3 or IMAP > access; they want users to employ their new authorization mechanisms. So, > which email service do you guys recommend? I'd like to be able to access it > in the old classic way, from different clients. Ideally it would be a free > service (I don't store my messages on the server, but rather, download them > to my client, so I don't need a lot of storage), and also likely to remain > in operation for many years to come. I used to be a self-hoster for my E-mail, but I've recently switched to Fastmail, and I've been fairly happy with it. It's not free, but it's not very expensive either. It offers both POP and IMAP as well as webmail and some useful privacy features (and my wife likes the fact they're Aussie, even if they're in Melbourne ;). I don't get a commission; I'm just a satisfied customer. My usual mail client is Thunderbird on Linux and macOS, but I see people using all kinds of clients with it. https://www.fastmail.com/pricing/ -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Computers are like air conditioners. They stop working if you open windows.
Re: List migration
> The new hosting is provided by the Chicago Classic Computing group. > > Many thanks to Jay West for hosting the lists for 20 years! Thanks, Jay, CCC and Dennis! -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself. -- Albert Camus --
OT: foreign language away messages was Re: cctalk Digest, Vol 94, Issue 20
>> Dziękuję za twoją wiadomość. Przepraszam, jestem na wczasach i odpowiem >> później. > > For those not conversant in Polish, he said he's on vacation/holiday and > will answer later. See, this is why watching Borat is educational: I actually knew what the first word meant. And I also knew why wearing mankinis in Kazakhstan is normal and masculine. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Quoth the Web Server, "404!" ---
[cctalk] Agenda VR3 MIPS cross-gcc
There used to be a cross-compiling gcc for MIPS specifically for the VR4121 in the Agenda VR3 PDA, but it doesn't seem to be on any of the remaining sites. Anyone out there got it or, he asked hopefully, the entire SDK? Binaries OK, source better. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- You can't fool me: there ain't no Sanity Clause. -- Chico Marx -
[cctalk] 9-pin mini-DIN serial?
Trying to identify two cables I ended up with, one to DE-9 and one to Mac 8-pin mini-DIN. The other end on both is a male 9-pin mini-DIN. These clearly look like serial cables, but to what? A cursory Google didn't come up with anything obvious. They don't fit the Mac GeoPort or Sun SPARC serial ports because the pins are slightly out of place. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Don't let 'em drive you crazy when it's within walking distance. ---
[cctalk] Re: 9-pin mini-DIN serial?
>> Trying to identify two cables I ended up with, one to DE-9 and one to Mac >> 8-pin >> mini-DIN. The other end on both is a male 9-pin mini-DIN. These clearly look >> like serial cables, but to what? A cursory Google didn't come up with >> anything >> obvious. They don't fit the Mac GeoPort or Sun SPARC serial ports because the >> pins are slightly out of place. > > Possibly to an Epson PX-8. An interesting thought, but the PDF manual you linked shows the PX-8 serial port (pp16-17) is 8-pin mini-DIN. This is what the connector on these looks like, including the metal "bar" at the top: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MiniDIN-9_Diagram.svg -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- If you use Arabic numerals, THE TERRORISTS WIN -
[cctalk] Re: Intel's i860, Cray-On-A-Chip
> I think there was a unix/unix-like OS for them, but I imagine context > switching > was slow... There were a couple *nix workstations based on it. The Oki 7300 series comes to mind. I think someone exhibited at that VCF pre-COVID. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Everything is permissible, but not everything is expedient. -- 1 Cor 6:12 --
[cctalk] Re: i860 vs. i960 WAS Intel's i860, Cray-On-A-Chip
> I always thought the i960 was an upgrade to the i860 (sort of like i386 to > i486 upgrade). However, based on the info on wiki it seems as if the i960 > actually came first and although a RISC chip it was in no way in the same > league as the i860. Anyone can clarify or verify this? I'm not even sure I'd call them related. The i960 is a very different, almost "normal" RISC chip compared to the i860, though it uses Berkeley register windows like SPARC. It has excellent XOR performance, so it got used a lot later on in RAID arrays (my Apple Network Server 500 has a RAID card with an i960 on it). A few systems used it and it was popular in military applications but it never achieved its potential mostly due to internal politics at Intel -- not because it sucked -- and the DEC StrongARM settlement mostly put a stake through it. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- The faster we go, the rounder we get. -- The Grateful Dead, on relativity --
[cctalk] Re: bubble memory stable?
> How "stable" is bubble memory, over decades? > > There is a Sharp PC-5000 that may be available, I believe from 1983-1985 > era, which is said to have bubble memory. But the owner can't find a power > cable, to verify if anything still works. > > I have older systems with ICs that are still working OK, but I was > wondering thoughts on any risk associated with bubble memory? (likelihood > of not working at all, or being damaged in long distance shipping) > > Actually another thought, can any "normal" ICs be used to > replace/substitute the bubble memory? Bubble memory uses magnetic domains, so to a first approximation it's as "stable" as any other magnetic storage system. These domains tend to be relatively large by modern standards. The modules are invariably magnetically shielded in heavy coverings, and are shockproof. If it works it all, it probably works fine. I have a Texas Instruments Silent 700 Model 763 and so far no problems with storing and retrieving data on its bubble memory cards, even though this unit is well over 40 years old (here it is with my KIM-1 as a punch tape storage system: http://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2022/09/what-kim-1-really-needs-is-bubble.html ). There are no modern drop-in equivalents for bubble memory modules specifically. Bubble memory is inherently serial and requires additional drive circuitry. However, that doesn't mean someone couldn't make a unit that emulates the entire system and looks like a bubble memory storage device, naturally, just like any other disk emulator. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Do you think I could buy back my introduction to you? -- Groucho Marx --
[cctalk] Re: bubble memory stable?
> I suppose it's the computer as well but I was surprised by how relatively > slow they are, considering that they're 'solid state'. It's largely the fact that bubble memory is inherently serial. You have to cycle through all the bits in a line until you get to the right location. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- BOND THEME NOW PLAYING: "The Living Daylights" -
[cctalk] Re: Apple G5 Rebuild
> TenFourFox is essentially a current web-browser. It's kind of you to say that, but at its core it's still just a hopped-up Firefox 45. Many things work, many things work but look funny, and an increasing proportion of things don't work at all. I myself just use it for basic tasks now that I'm on a Raptor Talos II as my desktop machine, though I do issue security patches on an irregular timeline. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- If they give you ruled paper, write the other way. -- Juan Ramon Jimenez ---
[cctalk] RDI BriteLite IPX keeps going to white screen
I've been trying to do a little work on the RDI BriteLite IPX I have here, but when it runs more than a few minutes the LCD just blanks out white. The machine seems to still respond to commands, so it seems like it's something with the display hardware. Even powered off and back on it won't go back to normal until I let it sit for awhile. I suspect heat is part of the issue and it certainly feels warm; there are two loud cooling fans inside, but with the case off and checking airflow the fans do seem to be working. Having the case off doesn't make the display any happier though. One fan is in the power supply and another fan is in the (LCD?) inverter board. Finger-checking large chips while in operation doesn't burn the skin. Anyone familiar with this issue? I suppose I could look for a SPARCstation IPX to take the motherboard out of and replace this one with it, but it seems more like the problem is in the display, which is a custom part. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Fish will never understand fear of deep water. -- Tanner Greer -
[cctalk] Re: RDI BriteLite IPX keeps going to white screen
> This usually means the timer of the pulse width modulation circuit is > changing. > If it’s an RC type circuit, probably the resistor is heating up and changing > value. If it’s a ic that controls the PWM then check out the IC and the > components that connect to the control pin. That's an interesting thought. It's almost certainly an IC, though I don't know the details of the panel (though it looks like it's off-the-shelf, not RDI-custom). I suppose I could start with what's in the cooling airflow zone. My worry is if I found the marginal part(s) I'm not sure how I could easily fix it (with my luck it won't be a discrete part). -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- A penny saved is stupid. ---
[cctalk] Re: RDI BriteLite IPX keeps going to white screen
> Is there any kind of brightness control? Does it work at all when the screen > goes white? There are brightness and contrast controls, but they don't seem to do anything even when the screen is working properly. (Note that this could simply be an issue with the physical controls themselves rather than the display controller.) Likewise, when the screen goes white, turning down the brightness (or upping the contrast) does nothing; the screen remains blank bright white. The CCFL backlight is unchanged and fully illuminated. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- I thought his Markov chain needed oiling. -- Mark J. Blair -
[cctalk] IBM 4863 monitor sync problem (PCjr display)
Got the Peanuts out today for a shakedown. They work well, or at least they did until about 5 minutes into playing Kings Quest when the h-sync on the monitor suddenly went out. Colours show and match what should be on screen but the horizontal display is scrambled. It does it on both Peanuts, so I think something in the display blew. Anyone recognize this issue? Seems like it should be a straightforward fix; I can't imagine this monitor is particularly complex internally. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Put down your guns, it's Weasel Stomping Day! --
[cctalk] Re: IBM 4863 monitor sync problem (PCjr display)
> I had a problem like this on a VT52, and the problem turned out to be one the > power supplies (the -12v one) had died. Wired in a 7812 (or whatever it is for > - voltage) and the monitor came back. > > May want to look inside and see if a supply rail is dead. A good suggestion. This morning it powers up fine, so maybe there's a cold or bad solder joint somewhere in that area, or a failing cap. I'll check the rails next time it goes bad. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- They told me I was gullible ... and I believed them. ---
[cctalk] Re: HP Computer Museum update
David, > With only a few exceptions, the museum's entire collection of HP hardware, > software and manuals has now been shipped from Melbourne, Australia, to > HPCA's archival company - Heritage Werks Inc, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The > equipment will be catalogued and preserved as a record of HP's early years > in computing, with the ability for HP offices to borrow equipment for > display purposes. Thanks for all your hard work on this and preserving a major historical treasure. Will software downloads remain available, particularly historical OS releases? -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas. -K. Enderbery
[cctalk] GLACIER-01 in the DataRover 840
Cracked open my General Magic DataRover 840 to find out what specific MIPS R3000 variant is in it. However, the only chips that are large enough to be CPUs are *two* with Bowser logos marked (C)GMI JAPAN GLACIER-01 F840276. The other chips of notable size are easily identified as RAM, a sound/modem codec and the inverter for the LCD backlight. I've seen systems with two CPUs that handle two halves of an LCD (the Tandy PC-1 and Laser 50 come to mind), but none with a CPU this large. Any General Magic alums on the list who can explain more about these? -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- "Endian Little Hate We" -- credits from Connectix Virtual PC 6 for Mac -
[cctalk] Re: Inline Serial Device?
>>> I am looking for a device that sits transparently in an RS-232 serial line >>> and upon seeing a particular code go over the serial line ((or sequence of >>> codes) will actual a relay (or a transistor). Something with two DB25s or >>> DE9s and is configurable to what code will trigger the output? Some kind of >>> box? >> >> not that it's easy but a raspberry pi could be set up to watch the serial >> line. > > Or even cheaper, and Arduino uno I second the Arduino recommendation. I have a Power Mac G4 with a serial dongle that drives an Arduino Nano-based IR blaster. It sends serial commands to it and the blaster transmits a signal to the room air conditioner. Should be easy to adapt the GPIO pins to a relay. Arduino programming and interfacing is pretty straightforward. https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2022/10/ir-controlling-new-air-conditioner-in.html -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. -- Tacitus -
[cctalk] Re: Inline Serial Device?
> AI, not so clear. In my view, AI is a catch-all term for "software whose > properties are unknown and probably unknowable". Someone recently on Hacker News talked about the possibility of neural net models to translate code for other architectures. The best response to this idea described it as a "turbo SIGILL generator." The mental image of a CPU ramming into a silicon brick wall, reversing and doing it again, over and over, possibly infinitely (the halting problem) comes irresistibly to mind. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- The earth is like a tiny grain of sand, only a lot heavier and bigger. -
[cctalk] Apple AWACS register documentation
Any Apple alumni (Al?) with documentation on AWACS registers? I'm trying to figure out why the BeOS AWACS sound driver works on some Power Mac 6500s and TAMs but not others (but works fine on 6400s and everything previously). Yes, I'm aware that Be considered the 6500 "Unsupported but Compatible" and it boots fine on my 6500/275 but is totally mute. An instrumented driver in debug mode yielded little insight. The driver thinks it's initialized everything correctly and reports no errors. I wonder if there's something about the SRS sound enhancement that's different on later 6500s/TAMs. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- God made the integers; all else is the work of Man. -- Kronecker ---
[cctalk] Re: what is on topic?
> I agree that we should probably use the intent of a specific era. > > I believe that the world certainly dropped out of my personal definition of > 'Classic' when the 386 came in. > > I have an interest in things up to and including 80186, and they certainly > are not run of the mill. Something like the HP LX series or even the portable ZEOS DOS palmtops would probably be on-topic. The OmniGo 100LX behind me has a Vadem equivalent of an 80186. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Beware the Lollipop of Mediocrity: lick it once, and you suck forever! -
[cctalk] BSD 2.11 on the DEC PRO
My PRO 380 runs Venix/PRO. Which is cool, but someone sent me this: https://www.frijid.net/blog/index.php/2015/06/07/182/ Allegedly this gets BSD 2.9 on, at least, the PRO 350. I'm particularly interested because it supports networking. Anyone tried this on their PRO? Or better still, an actual 380? -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Male Macintosh geeks are so predictable. All we think about is X. --
[cctalk] Re: what is on topic?
> > Something like the HP LX series or even the portable ZEOS DOS palmtops would probably be on-topic. The OmniGo 100LX behind me has a Vadem equivalent of an 80186. > Vadem made 186 clones? They made dense glue for V40 based Ampro sbc's. Never > knew they made cpus. Not saying they didn't, but if so that's a shocker to me. It has a VG230 in it which apparently is a NEC V30HL variant. My mistake, it's an 8086 clone, not an 80186. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- NEWS ITEM: Energizer Bunny arrested, charged with battery --
[cctalk] Re: Replacing NiCd with NiMH in a pro way.
> > dumb charger. Might be worth a watch, but the tl;dr seems to be that trickle > ^ > The what ??? Too long; didn't read -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? ---
[cctalk] Re: Mac System 7.1 or 7.5 question
> I’m looking at some 3.5” floppies from about 1995, so probably about the time > I got my first Mac. > Am I correct that System 7 used A:\RESOURCE.FRK\DESKTOP as the Resource Fork > data? MacOS 12.5 doesn’t appear to use it. :-) > A bunch of the floppies I’m looking at have this, including ones that appear > to be PC Backups. That sounds like a floppy disk written by PC Exchange. RESOURCE.FRK would contain any resource fork for any file in that folder, so at the root \RESOURCE.FRK\DESKTOP would probably have been the equivalent of the Desktop folder. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Our way is peace. -- Septimus, Son worshipper, Star Trek "Bread & Circuses"
[cctalk] Re: Mac System 7.1 or 7.5 question
>> That sounds like a floppy disk written by PC Exchange. RESOURCE.FRK would >> contain any resource fork for any file in that folder, so at the root >> \RESOURCE.FRK\DESKTOP would probably have been the equivalent of the Desktop >> folder. > Thanks Cameron, that jogs a few old brain cells, and sounds right. Initially I thought this had something to do with FASTBACK on MS-DOS, which made zero sense, as I was finding them on FASTBACK backup floppies. Then I realized some of the floppies were just simple data floppies. > > I’m finding Google has limited knowledge of some of this stuff. Searching Google for anything related to the classic Mac OS has become more and more useless (along with everything else Google is getting more and more useless for). All you get nowadays is little-m macOS. Sometimes I have luck searching for "System 7.x" but that won't work for Mac OS 8 and 9. :/ -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Shell scripting: the ultimate open source software.
[cctalk] Re: DLOAD BASIC command for Color Computer 1/2 heritage
>> I think (I might have mentioned it at the thread start) it was part of a >> plan for a school network. Tandy offered a similar setup for schools >> for the Model 1/3/4 systems, where the "host" could send programs, and >> the clients would load from the common host system. > IIRC there was the Network 1 which was 500 baud M1/3/4 only, and the > Network 2 which was very similar but could also handle 1500 baud M3/4 > and Coco (and M100?). These used the casstte ports and allowed the > host machine to 'broadcast' a file (program) to all the student > stations or load a file from one student station at a time back to the > host. I worked with an elementary school teacher who used exactly such a system to ship software from a CoCo 3 with a floppy drive to diskless CoCo 2s. You turned the dial to each client in turn and ran CLOAD on the client, and it pulled it over the cassette port. No automatic push, but I think he had only around 15 computers or so, so it didn't take long to load software. My math fractions trainer I wrote in CoCo BASIC was in use there for a number of years. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Birth, n.: The first and direst of all disasters. -- Ambrose Bierce
[cctalk] Tadpole RISC laptop RAM modules
Well, this is the second Tadpole laptop RAM module I've had go bad on me (one in my PA-RISC PrecisionBook and now one in my SPARC UltraBook IIi). These are the maroon-red 256MB or 512MB screw-in modules marked "Huxley Only" using a custom friction fit connector, not regular SO-DIMMs. I can't find an obvious part number on them and searching for Tadpole RAM modules just finds the rinkydink 8MB parts for the earlier SPARCbooks. Anyone know someone who carries them, or better still, is willing to sell some they have? Looking for a 256MB module but a 512MB module would be even better. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Put your Nose to the Grindstone! -- Plastic Surgeons-Toolmakers Union Ltd. -
[cctalk] Re: Tadpole RISC laptop RAM modules
>> Well, this is the second Tadpole laptop RAM module I've had go bad on me (one >> in my PA-RISC PrecisionBook and now one in my SPARC UltraBook IIi). These are >> the maroon-red 256MB or 512MB screw-in modules marked "Huxley Only" using a >> custom friction fit connector, not regular SO-DIMMs. I can't find an obvious >> part number on them and searching for Tadpole RAM modules just finds the >> rinkydink 8MB parts for the earlier SPARCbooks. > > Can you tell if it's one of the DRAM ICs or if it's the connector? Deoxit on > the connector then reseat? I don't think it's the connector, but it's junk if it isn't anyway, so I might see. These things screw in place and the fit was tight getting it out so it would boot again, so I don't think it wiggled. Still, would be nice to know a source for spares because it seems like others on this list have had similar problems with theirs. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Queen, you shall be it if you wish/Look for your king -- Pink Floyd
[cctalk] Re: Tadpole RISC laptop RAM modules
>> I don't think it's the connector, but it's junk if it isn't anyway, so I >> might >> see. These things screw in place and the fit was tight getting it out so it >> would boot again, so I don't think it wiggled. Still, would be nice to know a >> source for spares because it seems like others on this list have had similar >> problems with theirs. > > It might be possible to transplant DRAM ICs from other SIMMS onto the Tadpole > memory modules to refurbish them. I think that's possible, but it would need someone with better soldering skills than I've got. I draw the line at surface mount; I've wrecked boards before, and this module has 18 Hitachi DRAM chips on it (parity). -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- If I am not for myself, who will be for me? -- Pirkei Avot -
[cctalk] WTB: Accutech Gobi (Gobi7 or Gobi8)
Well, the weekend of hardware sudden death continues. The reason for getting the UltraBook IIi out was to do some more work on kOpenRay, the free Sun Ray server software I very occasionally maintain. Among other devices I use(d) two Accutech Gobi laptops to talk to it since they have an oddball VPN setup that used to cause problems. Unfortunately, neither will configure their network interfaces anymore and just hang. The board is of course a cheap mass of unrepairable components. If anyone has an Accutech Gobi (either the 7 or 8 model, both will suffice, I don't need the 3.5G module but will use it if it's there) sitting around gathering dust, I'd love to buy it off you. I have the power supply and batteries already. Southern California. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- And now for something completely different. -- Monty Python
[cctalk] Re: mainframe vs mini
This has been around the block: You can lose a screw in a micro. You can lose a screwdriver in a mini. You can get lost in a mainframe. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Merci d'eviter le "Top posting"
[cctalk] Atari PLATO was Re: Re: Age of Tape Formats?
> Was there any PLATO/NovaNet arrangements with Atari like
> there was for Texas Instruments computers?
Yes, though not exactly. The TI implementation was a true, full Micro-TUTOR
runtime that ran Off-Line System lessons directly. Atari had a PLATO cartridge
that could connect to a server via modem ("PLATO Homelink") and was arguably
more functional than the contemporary PC Homelink, but the Micro-PLATO (*not*
Micro-TUTOR) lessons on floppy disk for Apple II and Atari were ported to the
6502 and had no runtime or interpreter per se.
--
personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ --
Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com
-- You are not ready! -
[cctalk] KIM-1 stuck bits from $280 to $29f
Odd fault on my Rev D KIM-1 popped up while writing code this afternoon (initially I thought I had a bug in my paper tape transmitter) - between $0280 and $029f, the upper 5 bits are stuck at zero. The rest of the address range seems fine. In particular, $0080-$009f, $0180-$019f and $0380-$039f work correctly. This doesn't smell like a bad RAM chip to me or I would think there would be a bad bit throughout the entire 1K, so I suspect this is a data bus problem but I'm not sure where to start looking. Any guesses from the group? -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- require "std_disclaimer.pl"; ---
[cctalk] Re: KIM-1 stuck bits from $280 to $29f
>> Odd fault on my Rev D KIM-1 popped up while writing code this afternoon >> (initially I thought I had a bug in my paper tape transmitter) - between >> $0280 >> and $029f, the upper 5 bits are stuck at zero. The rest of the address range >> seems fine. In particular, $0080-$009f, $0180-$019f and $0380-$039f work >> correctly. >> >> This doesn't smell like a bad RAM chip to me or I would think there would be >> a >> bad bit throughout the entire 1K, so I suspect this is a data bus problem but >> I'm not sure where to start looking. Any guesses from the group? >> > Maybe an I/O device is sending on the bus when it should not be. Are there > any > devices that have a register range of XX80 to XX9F? (By the way, I had a typo in my message: it's the upper *six* bits, not five.) I thought about this, but the KIM is a pretty simple system. The only memory mapped device in that range (really, on the entire unit) are the RIOTs, and their RAM at $1780 is fine and does not echo. The KIM only does address decoding for 8K and echoes the rest, so the same fault is mapped at $2280, $4280, etc. I would think this would still suggest data is the problem. I suppose I could randomly replace the RAM and see what changes but again it seems weird to have a fault so neatly aligned and only in a specific range. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- "I'd love to go out with you, but my personalities each need therapy." -
[cctalk] Re: KIM-1 stuck bits from $280 to $29f
> I thought about this, but the KIM is a pretty simple system. The only memory > mapped device in that range (really, on the entire unit) are the RIOTs, and > their RAM at $1780 is fine and does not echo. > > The KIM only does address decoding for 8K and echoes the rest, so the same > fault is mapped at $2280, $4280, etc. I would think this would still suggest > data is the problem. > > I suppose I could randomly replace the RAM and see what changes but again it > seems weird to have a fault so neatly aligned and only in a specific range. With a simple step through program, *=$ r=$0280 inc w lda w sta $f9 sta r sta r+1 lda r sta $fb lda r+1 sta $fa jsr $1f1f jsr $1f6a cmp #$12 bne *-8 jsr $1f1f jsr $1f6a cmp #$15 bne *-5 jmp $ w .byt 0 it's actually an artifact of the monitor that the upper 6 were clear. Actually, the stuck bit is entirely bit 2 (i.e., it goes 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 8 9 a b 8 9 a b and the high nybble is OK). Now that sounds more like a bad RAM chip, but why would it be *just* those addresses? Does that sound like a plausible failure mode? -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- God made the integers; all else is the work of Man. -- Kronecker ---
[cctalk] Re: KIM-1 stuck bits from $280 to $29f
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. This board has NEC D2102AL-4 SRAMs on it, so I ordered a couple MM2102AN-4s which look equivalent. I'll swap one in when it arrives and see if that's the problem. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- I don't like losing anyways. -- Usain Bolt -
[cctalk] Re: KIM-1 stuck bits from $280 to $29f
> If the failure affects the EPROM monitor,then any results you get from the > monitor are suspect. No, what I mean is, the appearance of the upper six bits being dead was because of how the monitor shifts in data from the keypad. Since bit 2 was always zero, it would look like everything above it was zero too because the bit shifts carried the error forward. A direct brute-force step through showed the actual issue and I should have just done that in the first place. The monitor works properly everywhere else outside of those locations, including from the TTY. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Ninety-nine percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name. ---
Re: New addition to the collection
> Re NEC 8201a... > > This is a machine I have a lot if fondness for. Wrote many article > drafts and crunched a lot of numbers on that little unit. The 8201A was my first "laptop." I did a lot with it too. Unfortunately the batteries died on it before all the stuff I did with it in Malaysia could be saved to tape. :-/ -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Remember, kids: for great justice take off every zig! --
Re: Trip to CHM - Hotel/Restaurant Advice
> Remember Haltek in Mountain View? (wasn't it at the dead end of Linda > Vista? I bought my Tek 465 there.) You don't mean Halted Electronics, do you? That should still be around. I was passing through Sunnyvale on my way back south and picked up some useful doodads at Weird Stuff, though it took an hour to find them. I'm not sure if that was a good use of my time. ;) -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- A service of the Department of the Redundancy Department service. --
WTB: DEC VR241 or HP 6000 670H (or 670XP)
I'm looking for two items: A VR241 to use with my DEC 380 as a colour head (even better if you have the cable and a spare LK201, since I'm down to my last working keyboard). The VR201 isn't cutting it anymore and I don't think I can use my VR260 with this. An HP 6000 670H hard disk (the big one for the 300 series). XP even better, but I've done just fine with an H. Please include what price you're asking. Thanks! -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff. -- Frank Zappa
Re: Supercomputers, fishing for information
> > I'm probably showing my age (again), but "QIC" and "Supercomputers" just > > seems to be about as related as "Chateau Margaux" and "Cheez Whiz". > > > > If one is spending millions on a supercomputer, why would anyone want to > > put software for it on a QIC cart? > > Because it holds more than an Exatron Stringy Floppy? (the obvious second > choice for high reliability storage) Stringyfloppy shmingyfloppy. You need one of the unobtanium (with good reason) Texas Instruments CC-40 wafertape disasters, the obvious third choice for high reliability storage. I'm almost afraid to see if the one Jim Battle sent me a long time ago still works. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Famous, adj.: Conspicuously miserable. -- Ambrose Bierce --
Re: interesting... hp-9000 in the news! - russian-hackers-used-backdoor-two-decades
> interesting... hp-9000 in the news! - > russian-hackers-used-backdoor-two-decades I'm trying to identify the specific unit. It looks like an early PA-RISC, but even the enlargement doesn't show the model number clearly. > https://www.wired.com/2017/04/russian-hackers-used-backdoor-two-decades/ -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Please dispose of this message in the usual manner. -- Mission: Impossible -
Re: interesting... hp-9000 in the news! - russian-hackers-used-backdoor-two-decades
> It's an HP9000 E55. The HP Computer Museum even has one in our collection! Interesting. I guess it could be any of the E-class, though: OpenPA has a picture of an E35 that looks like a slightly closer match. I'm surprised it's recent enough to have a PA-7100; I would have agreed with Zane that it was an earlier type system. http://www.openpa.net/systems/hp-9000_e25_e35_e45_e55.html -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Use [Microsoft] IE and Passport and you can browse like it's 1984. -- /. ---
Re: interesting... hp-9000 in the news! - russian-hackers-used-backdoor-two-decades
> Try opening the following link in Chrome (not IE). > > https://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC_0794.jpg > > That opened the full image for me. That link does come up in TenFourFox and you are right, it's an E55. Mystery solved. (please don't cc me on cctalk replies) -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- MOVIE IDEA: E-mailsignaturebusters -
Re: RTX-2000 processor PC/AT add-in card (any takers?)
> > Thanks for the list--I was aware of the various Java engines and the WD > > P-code engine, but had never run into the SCAMP. > > I just found an academic Pascal microprocessor from 1980 called EM-1 and > described all the way to the chip layout level: > > http://authors.library.caltech.edu/27046/1/TR_2883.pdf My Venix DEC PRO 380 will run EM-1 binaries in an emulator (it looks like). -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- May I join your mind? -- Sarek, Star Trek III --
Re: BETSI Expander for the Commodore PET
> So it seems in the early days of the PET a company by the name of > Forethought Prouducts sold an expansion module called the BETSI which > plugged into the expansion bus of the PET and gave you four S100 slots. If This sounds an awful lot like the KIMSI, which was the same manufacturer. I have such a unit, and as you would expect, it connects to the KIM-1. I can drag it out and take a picture of it but I don't remember it particularly complex on the board. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Everything! Is my! Delusion! -- "Dead or Alive 2" --
Re: xv and VMS
> I am now retired so maybe I will find > the time to get all that software glued together. Retirement as an attempt to gain more free time just doesn't work. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Stop repeat offenders. Don't re-elect them!
Re: BBS software for the PDP 11
> > > I have both a pdp 11/34 and 11/23 and am trying to find some bbs software
> > > to run. Preferably something that will run under an os and not monopolize
> > > the whole machine.
> >
> > A krillion years ago I wrote about half of a BBS for my 11/34a, which
> > ran (as an RTS) under RSTS V7.0-07. I'd love to finish it ...
>
> So whats stopping you?
Retirement?
--
personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ --
Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com
-- select unique ("Just another SQL hacker") jash from id_rec order by 1; -
Re: Directory of old computer collectors
> I have no idea if I am on this list or not but I do not want to be on it at > all. Likewise. Although I support the general notion, I have no idea if I was listed on it either, and it would have been better to contact the people on it individually regarding permission IMHO. I'd prefer not to paint a target on my house if someone were searching the local assessor's database. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- 1-GHz Pentium-III + Java + XSLT == 1-MHz 6502. -- Craig Bruce --
Re: OT: Mercury (Was: BBS software for the PDP 11)
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn > > http://i.imgur.com/0dXdc.jpg > > > > Karen Wetterhahn spilled a drop of a Mercury compound on her latex > > glove, and died of it 10 months later. > > I have a hard time getting my head around Dr. Wetterhahn's poisoning. How > many molecules of the toxin could have possibly entered her body? > How many molecules does it take to kill or fatally disable a cell? After it > does its damage, does the molecule become available again to do > more damage? How many cells in her body were actually killed? Do the > molecules somehow target the cells required to kill an individual? > If you killed just the "right" cells, how many cells does it take to kill a > person? I can't answer the cell count, but I can give a general answer on the rest. Mercury interferes with multiple enzymatic processes -- some of them permanently -- and it can be slow to metabolize (half life of approximately two months), meaning even a small dose can destroy a lot of cells. The central nervous system is at greatest risk because these enzymes frequently repair oxidative damage from metabolic processes, and nerve cells have high rates of metabolism for processing. As mentioned, mercury compounds are often far more toxic than the pure form. Dimethylmercury is especially effective because the extra methyl groups enable it to very easily enter the body and pass through cell membranes but only very slowly be eliminated from it; some metabolites can actually bind to tissues and remain. In this case, as little as 0.1mL is enough to cause severe or fatal poisoning according to the OSHA bulletins I have here because it will enter cells and accumulate there. Once it reaches the central nervous system, that's it. The NEJM article on the Wetterhahn case (read: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199806043382305 ) estimates a lethal dose of the compound would be about 5mg/kg body weight. (As an aside, though, mercury-containing antiseptics such as thiomersal "Merthiolate" and merbromin can be safe and effective sterilizers in very low concentrations. They work through the oligodynamic effect. I grew up with my mother wielding the Mercurochrome whenever I'd get a cut, and I think it was unfairly removed from the market -- not due to toxicity, but because it was a generic product with no profit potential, so the pharmas wouldn't do the studies and the FDA classified it as "non-GRAS" along with a number of other orphaned compounds in 1998. It is still very common outside the US.) In the Wetterhahn case, latex and PVC gloves are also easily penetrated by the compound (including those she was wearing), affording her no protection at all when it spilled on her and was able to pass through her skin into the bloodstream. It is also possible part of her toxic dose came from vapour, although the fume hood should have reduced this. By the time her symptoms indicated that she had indeed received a toxic dose, chelation therapy would have been ineffective, as it indeed was. The estimated total dose per the NEJM article was about 1.3g of mercury, over three times the lethal amount. Don't mess with it. (MD, MPH) -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- You are not ready! -
Re: OT: Mercury (Was: BBS software for the PDP 11)
> The Wikipedia article on Dr. Wetterhahn seems to indicate > this went a lot slower than we were told in the seminar. > Not sure who to trust, there. The NEJM article seems to say it was also not a precipitous decline. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- The cost of living has not adversely affected its popularity. --
Re: OT: Mercury (Was: BBS software for the PDP 11)
> Metallic mercury isn't anything you want to ingest, but it won't go thru > your skin unless it has some other compound to drag it, This isn't quite true. Elemental liquid mercury will pass through skin but at a much slower rate. Vapourized elemental mercury via inhalation is, uh, more "efficient." -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- MOVIE IDEA: The Never-Ending E-mail Signature --
Re: Re: Directory of old computer collectors
> > Anybody that is paranoid about telling their location and the computer > > dinosaurs running in their basement needs a head alignment. > > Randy, with all due respect, have you seen how much an Apple 1 or a > Lisa... or even their _drives_ go for lately? Symbolics machines? Crays? > One-offs or limited-run machines? > > While I don't disagree that a lot of us (without question myself included) > vastly overrate their collection of bits and pieces, that is not to say > that _some_ of them can be worth staggering amounts of money to the right > people. And let's not forget that crooks can overestimate how much they can fence an item for, too. They may be wrong, but you're still out the unit plus any damage they caused. eBay's been great for thieves as well. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- If two wrongs don't make a right, try three. -- Laurence J. Peter --
Re: Alphaserver 4100 - Give my Monster Life!!!!
> > Displaying that Motif session on a 'real' CRT that takes 1/3 of your desk, > > weights 50+ lbs and takes around 150W. > > I had a lovely 21" trinitron CRT here that I sent to the dump last year, > it had sat idle in the storage room for ten years and I needed the space. > That is shameful. My HP 9000/350 has its big tank of a monitor. It's almost part of the identity of the machine, perched on top of the system rack and secured by bungie cords. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- What happens when you get scared half-to-death twice? --
Re: I hadn't made the connection before
> I was looking at an old GI catalog and casually noting the CP1610 that was > most of a PDP11 processor. I did some more web surfing and noticed that the > Intellivision game machine used this chip. It just never dawned on me that > they used this processor. > > I see that one could even get a keyboard for these. The (ridiculous) story of the Keyboard Component was legendary. The ECS keyboard variant can barely be considered functional even by the standards of the time, though I guess it at least looks decent compared to an Aquarius and the second sound chip was nice. It was designed to be cheap and get the FTC off Mattel's back and that's all it did. I say this as a kid whose first video game system was, in fact, an Inty. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star. -- William Blake --
Re: I hadn't made the connection before
> I sold a bare CP1600 chip about a year ago to a collector. "Odd" is an > understatement. A 10-bit wide instruction word, with the upper 6 bits of > the opcode unused. Loading a 16-bit address took three words. > > Also, slow, very slow, with no I/O instructions. But that was because it has memory-mapped I/O, no? On the other hand the decles were weird and it has a lot of instructions that were removed. Retrospectively a 6502 or a Z80 would have looked like a better choice in this application, even considering this was supposed to be a higher-end console. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. -- 1 Corinthians 8:1 ---
Re: DecWindows on remote display
> I have run DECwindows on a VAX 3100 model 300 under VAX/VMS 5.5-1 using the > Motif window manager with a dozen remote DECterms open plus Emacs, a clock, > a calendar, etc. and it gave reasonable performance. The VAX was both the [...] > I was able to run Mozilla on it but performance was horrible Wit. There was a Mozilla build for VAX??? I have Netscape Navigator 3, but I thought that was the last VAX build. It runs ... acceptably on my M76, though I wouldn't call it sprightly. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- If you have integrity, nothing else matters. -- Alan Simpson ---
Re: DecWindows on remote display
> > Wit. There was a Mozilla build for VAX??? > > I have Netscape Navigator 3, but I thought that was the last VAX build. It > > runs ... acceptably on my M76, though I wouldn't call it sprightly. > > No, I remembered after I sent it. It would be Netscape 3?. But remember!! > It is spelled Netscape but it is pronounced Mozilla! :) True :) It doesn't run too badly on this system. I use my M76 headless (VMS 7.3) and this G5 as the X server, and it seems not to put too much strain on it. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Perl: the only language that makes Welsh look acceptable. -- David Cantrell
Re: DecWindows on remote display
> Probably Mozilla 1 or there about. I think that was about the time I > stopped trying to run any browser other than Lynx on my DEC Alpha. I'm pretty sure that was for AXP VMS. There wasn't even a Navigator 4 for VAX VMS that I can recall, though I'd love to be wrong. Mozilla got all the way to 1.7 or so on Tru64, though. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- TRUE HEADLINE: Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft -
Re: Ibm rs6000 7025-f50
> > I emailed IBM regarding a license to do research with For the OP, having the hardware still (last I checked) entitles you to run AIX on it. You just have to find the media, which for a system that old is not easy. I've never been able to find 4.1.5 on CD, for example, even though I know it exists. (I have 4.1.5 for my Apple Network Server on disc thanks to a member of this group, but not 4.1.5 for generic RS/6000 and IBM PowerPC hardware.) > IBM redid all their websites a few years ago, and finding information > about systems older than Power7 has become ... challenging. > > They're ... uh, not going to respond to you. IMHO. Seven years ago I couldn't get IBM to take my money when I was ready to buy a brand new POWER7 to take over for my dear ANS 500 (which will be at VCF in August, btw). I had my credit card and a $14,000 budget. I was ready to buy. I couldn't get them on the phone. I couldn't get *half their VARs* to return a call. I ended up buying a used POWER6, about $10K all told, from a reseller who *was*, in fact, happy to take my money. So I do business with them. It runs AIX 6 TLmumble with some patches. It is the machine sending you this E-mail. I suspect the issue is IBM doesn't want to do business with people like me who can maintain our own hardware. Power Systems are hardly commodity x86 servers, but the real money is in service contracts, and that was the one thing I was not going to pay for. Never did hear back from them. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Political correctness is tyranny with manners. -- Charlton Heston --
Re: DecWindows on remote display
> > > Probably Mozilla 1 or there about. I think that was about the time I > > > stopped trying to run any browser other than Lynx on my DEC Alpha. > > > > I'm pretty sure that was for AXP VMS. There wasn't even a Navigator 4 for > > VAX VMS that I can recall, though I'd love to be wrong. > > > > Mozilla got all the way to 1.7 or so on Tru64, though. > > Would this be an older or newer web browser? > > MOSAIC, WEB_TOOLS, The Mosaic Web Browser > > VMS Mosaic V4.0, 4-JUN-2006 > > VMS Mosaic is a GUI web browser. It supports HTML V4.0 (including > tables and frames), animated GIFs, cookies, secure connections, etc. > It does not support Java, JavaScript or style sheets. A C compiler > is required to build it, if none of the pre-built executables in > the [.EXE] directory are useable. > > VMS Mosaic is supported on VAXes running OpenVMS 5.4-3 thru 7.3, on > Alpha systems using OpenVMS V1.5 thru 8.2, and on IA64 systems running > OpenVMS V8.1 thru 8.2-1. Mosaic will work with UCX (TCP/IP Services), > CMU, MultiNet, Pathway, TCPware or SOCKETSHR with NETLIB. CMU TCP/IP > is supported via LIBCMUII or SOCKETSHR. The Mosaic has been compiled > with VAX C, DEC C and GNU C (VAX version 2.7.1 only). Versions 1.1 > thru 1.5 of DECwindows Motif are supported. Both HP SSL and OpenSSL > are supported for secure connections. It's kind of both. I don't think George routinely distributed VAX binaries for MOSAIC, but if he said it would build on VAX, I believe him. The support probably falls somewhere between Navigator 3 and 4, most likely (better HTML4 support but virtually no scripting). He and I chatted a little since I was looking at borrowing some of his code for CK-Mosaic. George's old site on WVNET doesn't seem to be up anymore. :( -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Bugs of a feather flock together. -- Russell Nelson
Re: Ibm rs6000 7025-f50
> I'd be more than happy to buy it, do you think settling for 4.1.4 when it > can run 4.1.5? The main difference (having run both) is that 4.1.4 has a very nasty leak in the sockets code. My production ANS 500 would run out of memory after awhile because of all the sockets it opened and closed. 4.1.5 fixed this bug and others. Also, a lot of software that is 4.1-compatible requires 4.1.5 at minimum, such as the few AIX games that are floating around. (I was recently able to coerce my 500 into playing Quake and Abuse, but only because it has 4.1.5 and I happen to have an Ultimedia option CD.) For that reason, while I appreciate Glen's offer, I really do need a 4.1.5 on CD; 4.1.4 won't do for my purposes. But if you just want to mess around with AIX, 4.1.4 is perfectly cromulent. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- His mind is like a steel trap -- full of mice. -- Foghorn Leghorn --
Re: Ibm rs6000 7025-f50
> AIX 5.3 should run on this machine, so why run 4.x? Depends on what you want to run on it. AIX 5 definitely had poorer multimedia support and I think was an overall worse workstation operating system than 4 or even 3.2.5. OTOH, AIX 5 is certainly a lot easier to find, and works well enough at the command line. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Emulate your heroes, but not if they're dead. --
Re: Solaris on PPC?
> > It was more than likely x86 and the AIX would have been AIX PS/2 (which > > I did a lot of work on at the time). > > I think you___re right, especially as, IIRC, it was a laptop. Doesn't rule out the PowerPC, because there were PowerPC ThinkPads. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- FOOLS! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL! ASK ME HOW! -- "Girl Genius" 8/29/07
Re: RIP Jerry Pournelle - Firsts
> I used to read his column for its humor value but I always thought > of him as an idiot as far as comuters were concerned. Apparently this opinion is fairly widely shared: http://www.panix.com/~clp/humor/computers/general/Jerry-Pournelle-parody.html -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- "My inner geek can beat up your inner geek." ---
updates to the Little Orphan Tomy Tutor site
The Little Orphan Tomy Tutor site has finally been updated again: * Tutti II 2.0, the tape-enabled Tomy Tutor emulator, is updated with lots of core fixes (including a new ALU core derived from MAME/MESS), improved faster graphics with fixed 9918A palette, and all-new high quality SN76489AN sound emulation. Still running on any Power Mac or Intel Mac from 10.4 to 10.12 (and AltiVec-accelerated on G4 and G5 computers). * New demotapes (compatible with Tutti II), including four of the Japanese Pyuuta cassette "games" converted for American systems, and another James Host masterpiece BASIC game. * Expanded BASIC programming section with more keywords. * More screenshots and entries on the Tomy Tutor catalogue. * Updated trade list. * Other custodial changes. See you there: http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/tomy/ Next up is some additional photos, particularly of my Pyuuta PR1000 cassette deck and the Pyuuta-kun I got off Yahoo! JP, and some upgrades for XTOMYDEV to do proper quantization of sound input on a wider array of systems. I'm hoping to have that done in a couple more months. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail. -- Gore Vidal ---
Re: C64 to a good home
> There are some online repositories of C64 software. Having only a little > knowledge when it comes to C64_s how do I get a C64 disk > image onto a 5 1/4_ floppy? I use a ZoomFloppy and a real 1541 (actually a 1571). These devices are available from many places; Jim Brain built mine, or you can look for any xu1541 or xum1541-type device and use OpenCBM to copy that floppy. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- BOND THEME NOW PLAYING: "Moonraker"
Re: Picked up beige Mac G3
> Also (please correct me if I'm wrong), you lose the integrated floppy > access. You are correct. I don't believe it even works in 10.2, which *is* supported. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Si c'est gratuit, vous etes le produit.
Re: Picked up beige Mac G3
> I went through a number of "this totally works on a beige G3" MacOS 8.x and > 9.x ISOs before finding one that would boot my beige G3 desktop. I think it > ended up being MacOS 9.2.1. There is a "boot-any" CD from the last eMac that can boot OS 9 that will boot any OS 9.2.2-compatible Mac, of which the beige G3 should qualify. The part# is 691-4323-A. 9.2.2 has some slight performance improvements on native G3 and New World systems, but for my other beige Macs I prefer 9.1. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- I can't complain, but sometimes I still do. -- Joe Walsh ---
[cctalk] Re: Bob Applegate passed away
> Just letting everyone know that Bob Applegate passed away a few days ago. > He had been battling cancer for some time. He was involved with vintage > computing for some time. Here is his website: http://www.corshamtech.com/ > > This is the website for his memorial: > https://everloved.com/life-of/robert-applegate/ Bob made great stuff. I bought a few KIM boards off him a few weeks back. He said the treatment wasn't going well, and it didn't seem like it would be long. I'm glad he's at peace. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- "The ants are my friends/They're blowing in the wind" --
[cctalk] Dwight Elvey's KIM diagnostics board
Does anyone have one of Dwight Elvey's KIM-1 diagnostics boards out there who would be willing to let me borrow it (I'm in southern California)? I would be happy to pay shipping and a rental cost, provide a deposit, etc. Please contact me off list if you're willing and the arrangements you'd prefer. Yes, I'm aware schematics exist, but I was hoping not to place my ability to fix this unit entirely upon my ability to assemble a board if a working one is already out there. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- I went to San Francisco. I found someone's heart. Now what?
[cctalk] Re: Need AUI cable
> Anyone in MD got an AUI cable (few feet long) I can steal so I don't have to > remove the bolts from the Pro/380's Ethernet socket or the pins on my 10bt > ethernet MAU? I just cheat and use a straight through DB-15 (waiting for someone to tell me it's a DQ-15 or something instead ;), like a PC joystick cable or some such. > Friendly note: If you try to boot a Pro/380 running POS 3.2 with Decnet > installed and don't have the loopback plug the system will crash hard with a > numeric error on the display. Noted. Duly noted for the one I have here, but it runs Venix/PRO. Gotta try 2.9BSD one of these days. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- 1-GHz Pentium-III + Java + XSLT == 1-MHz 6502. -- Craig Bruce --
[cctalk] KIM-1 debug board RAM test: *zero* flashes
I assembled Dwight Elvey's KIM-1 debug board (thank you, Gary!) and have now certified two of my KIMs with it, so I'm very confident the harness operates properly. Unfortunately, the one I *want* to repair, my original KIM-1, won't start up at all after replacing the 2102 RAM I was pretty sure was bad. I checked my soldering and found a couple spots without continuity that should according to the schematic, but fixing those didn't fix it. I also buzzed out the socket and found no obvious shorts, and a second 2102 equivalent from a second manufacturer has the same symptoms. I connected the debug harness and test 0, the initial "dead board" test, does show CPU accesses on the red LED and slowly flashes the green LED, so the CPU at least is alive and can access the test EPROM. However, test 1, the RAM test, should show long flashes of the green LED if RAM is bad. I was prepared to see all long flashes which might implicate the buffers or address decoder, but instead it won't blink the LED at all in that or any of the other tests. The red LED remains lit and appropriately extinguishes when the RS button is down. Again, the board works correctly and fully certifies the other two KIMs. What would cause it to hang (?) in the RAM test on the defective one? -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Roger Waters to moving crew: "Hey! Careful with those racks, Eugene!" --
[cctalk] Re: KIM-1 debug board RAM test: *zero* flashes
Answering my own question for posterity: > However, test 1, the RAM test, should show long flashes of the green LED if > RAM > is bad. I was prepared to see all long flashes which might implicate the > buffers or address decoder, but instead it won't blink the LED at all in that > or any of the other tests. The red LED remains lit and appropriately > extinguishes when the RS button is down. > > Again, the board works correctly and fully certifies the other two KIMs. > > What would cause it to hang (?) in the RAM test on the defective one? Dwight suggested something wrong with the address lines. That made sense, since the continuity problems I had on the board were on the address lines (turned out to be lifted traces). However, after spending a couple hours more with the tester, the actual problem was two address lines that had an intermittent short. I cleaned that up and everything passes. The original fault, a bad 2nd bit from $280 to $2bf, was indeed a single RAM chip gone bad in a single row. Now that it's replaced and the board is fixed, the fault is gone. Buffers and address decoding check out just fine. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Not sun-worshippers: Son-worshippers! -- Uhura, Star Trek "Bread & Circuses"
[cctalk] 50 pins in three rows
In a shipment today I got several AMP-labeled dongles that look like SCSI terminators ... except the 50 pins are arranged in three rows (17-16-17), not the Centronics-style 50-pin connector nor the usual 2-pin configuration. Anyone seen those before, and is it actually SCSI, or is it something else? -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong. -- Oscar Wilde
[cctalk] Re: 50 pins in three rows
>> Anyone seen those before, and is it actually SCSI, or is it something else? > Common on old Sun SCSI stuff, it's a DD-50. Could be something else, but they > were indeed used for SCSI termination. Given what else was in there, this makes sense, and they look exactly like a SCSI terminator should look. TIL. Thanks! -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- The point of good writing is knowing when to stop. -- Lucy Montgomery --
[cctalk] Re: Apple 1
> Personally I use my IMSAI somewhat regularly, thats my favorite computer
> from the mid 70s.
I have an IMSAI as well, but for me my favourite computer of that era is the
KIM-1, and that's such a simple design there are tons of reimplementations
(though I prefer the original since some of them apparently have edge-case
incompatibilities).
--
personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ --
Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com
-- When in doubt, take a pawn. -- Mission: Impossible ("Crack-Up")
[cctalk] Re: Silly question about S-100 and video monitors
> I did manage to get one of those stickers off in one piece. I stored > it on the backing paper of some rub-down letter transfers (remember > those?) and never put it back after I completed the > modifications/repairs. My idea was I'd put it on a unit I'd been > inside if I did want to claim on th warranty. Never did that, I might > still have it somewhere. This week I installed a cooling fan in my Commodore 128DCR. I've been inside that unit twice in the last couple months to replace the power supply and then solder the leads and mount the fan. The warranty sticker remains undisturbed. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- I have but two things to say to you: Celery and Sidewalk. -- Michel Rivard -
[cctalk] Re: Tadpole/RDI UltraBooks - UNIX notebooks - species needs rescue...
> Do anyone out there have got UltraBooks or UltraBooks IIi up and running? > Would > highly be interested in a dump of the NVRAM/Timekeeper!!! > > The failed first generation UltraBook are (DS1643 NVRAM): > (*) U20-14-9-512P with three (!!) hard drives, no battery port > (*) U20-14-3-128B two hard drives, battery port > > And my beloved UltraBook IIi (TimeKeeper DS1553-070) > (*) U40-14-1X-1024C one harddrive, battery port and creator graphics. I just got out my own UltraBook IIi to test and while it makes a lot of complaints during POST (which takes a good couple minutes), it does eventually come up into OpenBoot and will start Solaris. I note that it states it seems to have already lost its NVRAM contents but appears to have spontaneously self-recovered. Typing verbatim from the boot screen, Starting real time clock... Incorrect configuration checksum; Setting NVRAM parameters to default values. Setting diag-switch? NVRAM parameter to true. Reset Control: BXIR:0 BPOR:0 SXIR:0 SPOR:1 POR:0 UltraSPARC-IIi Version 9.1 (E$=1MB) 2-2 module Advanced PCI Bridge Version 1.3 Probing Memory Group #0 256 + 256 : 512 Megabytes Probing Memory Group #2 0 + 0 : 0 Megabytes Probing Floppy: No drives detected Probing UPA Slot at 1e,0 Nothing there Probing /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1 at Device 1 network Probing /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1 at Device 2 Nothing there Probing /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1 at Device 4 Nothing there Probing /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1 at Device 3 ide disk cdrom Probing /pci@1f,0/pci@1 at Device 1 pcma pcma Probing /pci@1f,0/pci@1 at Device 2 ATI,3D-Expression Probing /pci@1f,0/pci@1 at Device 3 scsi disk tape -- Ultrabook IIi (UltraSPARC-IIi 400MHz), Sun Keyboard -- OpenBoot 3.10.7 Tadpole-RDI 1.06, 512MB memory, Serial #[censored] -- Ethernet address [censored], Host ID: [censored]. The IDPROM contents are invalid Creator card not detected Boot device: net File and args: >From there it times out, drops to an ok prompt, and I can start Solaris. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- si non confectus, non reficiat -
[cctalk] Re: Tadpole/RDI UltraBooks - UNIX notebooks - species needs rescue...
> Interesting. So you still have got the hostid and the MAC address which might > indicate, that the contents are not completely lost yet. Maybe just a few > bits flipped leading to a wrong checksum (and the diag-switch? being set to > true, leading to lng POST times)? Maybe, but it also says "Setting NVRAM parameters to default values." which suggests it has default values stored somewhere to set NVRAM to. I don't know much about these systems' boot process, however. -- personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com -- It's bad luck to be suspicious. -- Andrew W. Mathis
