- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Atari 800 lot in Chester
by Jason Howe 12 Oct '17

12 Oct '17

Came across this today. I'm across the country, but would be interested in splitting this with others...actually only a couple things I'm interested in here. https://newjersey.craigslist.org/sys/d/vintage-atari-8-bit-collection/63079… --Jason -- Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Considering sale of Apple Lisa...
by William Sudbrink 12 Oct '17

12 Oct '17

Oh, one last thing to add, stored in cool dry basement since what? 1998 or maybe 1997. From: William Sudbrink [mailto:wh.sudbrink@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2017 9:39 PM To: 'vcf-midatlantic' Subject: RE: [vcf-midatlantic] Considering sale of Apple Lisa... Ok. For anyone holding their breath, it's a Lisa 2, not a 1. Oh well. Pictures here: http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/Lisa_Pics/ You can see close up shots of where the battery was removed. The only leak damage is very slight corrosion on some of the leads of the resistors and diodes in the immediate area. One condition note that I had forgotten is that somehow, a small hole was punched in the left shift key. This happened before I got it. As I said, I've never applied power, but mechanically, the key appears to work correctly. Things to note: All keyboard keys operate smoothly and easily. Mouse is clean, ball rolls nicely and button clicks sharply. Glare filter is clean and complete. Documentation appears complete. More than 20 user labeled diskettes. Original Apple branded power cord. Original Apple branded interface cable to Profile drive. Original Apple branded interface cable to printer. Apparently, it will boot into MacWorks XL or UNIX SYSTEM V. Bill Sudbrink --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Considering sale of Apple Lisa...
by William Sudbrink 12 Oct '17

12 Oct '17

Ok. For anyone holding their breath, it's a Lisa 2, not a 1. Oh well. Pictures here: http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/images/Lisa_Pics/ You can see close up shots of where the battery was removed. The only leak damage is very slight corrosion on some of the leads of the resistors and diodes in the immediate area. One condition note that I had forgotten is that somehow, a small hole was punched in the left shift key. This happened before I got it. As I said, I've never applied power, but mechanically, the key appears to work correctly. Things to note: All keyboard keys operate smoothly and easily. Mouse is clean, ball rolls nicely and button clicks sharply. Glare filter is clean and complete. Documentation appears complete. More than 20 user labeled diskettes. Original Apple branded power cord. Original Apple branded interface cable to Profile drive. Original Apple branded interface cable to printer. Apparently, it will boot into MacWorks XL or UNIX SYSTEM V. Bill Sudbrink --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Considering sale of Apple Lisa...
by William Sudbrink 11 Oct '17

11 Oct '17

Hi All, Sorry to do this here, but I'd really rather avoid boxing and shipping if I can get this to someone relatively local. I have an Apple Lisa computer that I've been "sitting on" for a long time and I'm coming to the conclusion that I will never do it justice. It is pretty complete, including an external hard drive, printer, software diskettes and documents. When I got it, the battery was leaking. I removed the battery and did some cleanup at the time, but nothing more. I've never applied power. Drop me a private message if you are interested and I will take some pictures. Sincerely, Bill Sudbrink PS: This is a little "weird" but I will trade the Lisa for the follow group of items: 1) One of Glitch's OSI memory boards (completely populated) 2) A Jade S-100 bus probe 3) A Percom SS-50 bus graphics card (I can give you details of how to acquire this but you have to buy a complete SWTPc system (which I don't need)) --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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WTB: Large Quantity 6116 SRAMs
by systems_glitch 11 Oct '17

11 Oct '17

All, Before I spin the wheel on China relabels, does anyone have a bunch of 6116 type 2K x 8 static RAM ICs they want to sell? I have a few RAM boards that came to me with all of the SRAMs pulled, looking to try and repopulate them and get them going. Looking for 32 or more, don't care if they're used or pulls or whatever. Thanks, Jonathan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: housing?
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 10 Oct '17

10 Oct '17

Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic writes: >NJ members, > >I need a new place to live by early November. Anyone have a spare room? > >(Please withhold non-constructive responses, I don't need advice or "I >wish I could help but", I need a place to live.) It's fun to stay at the YMCA... Sorry, not constructive but I couldn't resist.

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OT: housing?
by Evan Koblentz 10 Oct '17

10 Oct '17

NJ members, I need a new place to live by early November. Anyone have a spare room? (Please withhold non-constructive responses, I don't need advice or "I wish I could help but", I need a place to live.) ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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re-marked ICs
by Herb Johnson 10 Oct '17

10 Oct '17

http://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/chip_re-labeling.html There was some discussion in this list, about pulled vintage IC's being relabeled with different datecodes, brands, sometimes the wrong function. An ancient TTL chip was actually a touch-tone decoder chip - ONE IC! The depth of this problem, down to handfulls of chips selling for little, surprised me. So I gathered some details from the sources and participants, added discussion from another vintage list, and created a Web page to report on the issue and practices. My thanks for their permission and reportage. I'd welcome an email from any who stumble over this problem, when buying some part to fix a S-100 card or other vintage microcomputer. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Univac update
by Evan Koblentz 10 Oct '17

10 Oct '17

Duane Craps (from several states away) and Bill Dromgoole spent the weekend at our museum to work on the Univac. Here's a lightly edited version of their report: --------------- The 1219B is mostly operational It still has a few intermittent problems and a few we know about like a fan not operating below the memory chassis. We don’t have full communication with the 1540 tape drive but can transfer functional commands. We found a few bad cards in the tape drive but a lot more work is needed. We are able to load UPAK and diagnostic programs. We loaded and executed the memory test program but did not get a full 10 passes to get a good printout. After about 5 to 8 passes we get a program fault. We think due to overheating. We also were able to load and run “Hunt the Wumpus” game program. Here are some photos and videos. The second photo shows the broken computer with the main timing chain not working and some random lights lit. The eighth photo shows the parts at fault we found the first day. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Sauxna7fBda2OroU2 This link should work for anyone who thinks 640K is enough." ----------------- Related: Drom and Duane also served as museum docents. They reported a modest amount of visitors Saturday and tons of visitors Sunday. Said Drom: "It was so hectic I couldn’t give people as much attention as they wanted."

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FS: Processor Tech 2KRO 1702/5203 EPROM S-100 Board Repaired/Tested/Working
by systems_glitch 09 Oct '17

09 Oct '17

link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/272880791277 Processor Tech's early 2K ROM board, can be used with 1702/5203 type ROMs, including the slower 1702 variants (up to 4 wait states can be added). This board arrived with two shorted tantalum capacitors, which have been replaced. I changed addressing and wait state jumpers from soldered wire to machine pin sockets to save on board wear and tear. Tested with a 1702A pattern ROM (not included) in my IMSAI 8080 -- works fine! Thanks, Jonathan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] vax scsi questions
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 09 Oct '17

09 Oct '17

william degnan via vcf-midatlantic writes: >> > > Minimum boot will not execute your system's SYSTARTUP_VMS (or *_V5 >because > you're living in the past). > > >ironic statement. In my case I just wanted to keep the license as-is >being all historical and all that I am. I have a VMS 7.2 or .3 on CD if >I really wanted to upgrade. > > >> That is, typically, where one would add MOUNT > commands to mount >other device volumes available to the system. When you > DO startup the >system minimally, there are many other aspects of *normal* > VMS startup >that are also bypassed. You can also modify the system startup > in >SYSGEN when you boot conversationally (>>> BOOT/[R5:]1) and define the > >startup to the OPA0: (SYSBOOT> SET/STARTUP OPA0:). WHen your system >boots, > it will leave you at the DCL prompt ($). No need to even know >the SYSTEM > password or login to the SYSTEM account. However, when you >do this, there > is no error handling! A error, even a typo >precipitating an unknown > command > syntax error, will kick you out >with no resolve other than to reboot. The > trick here is to issue a "$ >SPAWN" command first. This way, you'll have a > subprocess that, if it >terminates, will dump you back into the STARTUP pro- > cess. NOTE: If >you change the startup, you will want to change it back. > >Conversationally boot. SYSBOOT> SET/STARTUP SYS$SYSTEM:STARTUP.COM and >> SYSBOOT> CONTINUE. > > I ran this > >SYSBOOT> SET STARTUP_P1 = " " SYSBOOT> CONTINUE > >problem is now the computer always tries to boot into the network. I >need to re-establish a boot into DKB500. I thought this would work: > >SYSBOOT> SET STARTUP_P1 = "DKB500" > >but I am starting to think with V5 you need to do it this way: > >SYSBOOT> SET STARTUP_P1 = "DKB500:" (with the colon) > >On my systems, I MOUNT volumes in a procedure (I call >SYSTARTUP_MOUNT.COM) > that I run as a detached process. If it hangs up >on a MOUNT I can still, > eventually after STARTUP.COM and its scion >complete, login. > > That makes sense. I still have a ways to go to >make a safe system exposed to the outside WWW as well. One thing about >VMS, it let's you make catastrophic mistakes without protest. Very >flexible OS though. You know, there was a VMS I&DS manual in the consignment at one of the (last) VCF at InfoAge that probably would have got to the skip if I hadn't saved it from becoming landfill. You would be well suited to have a copy and read it. By the time you see SYSBOOT, you've already DECIDED what is the boot device. The boot device can he specified at the dead sargeant (>>> B DKB500) or you can specify to the console that it be the default device to be assumed when you issue the BOOT command. >>> SET BOOT DKB500 If nothing has been established, the console will attempt to boot off of the network (if a network card is present) and then off of the various devices. It's looking for VMB.EXE which is the primary bootstrap loader. Again, by the time VMB.EXE is executing (which maps much of VMS and SYSBOOT), it's far too late to try to change the boot volume. You know, if there was a real interest, I'd consider doing a VMS seminar at VCF but I've so many more things in my personal life's firepit at the moment to commit to yet another log on the fire.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] vax scsi questions
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 09 Oct '17

09 Oct '17

william degnan via vcf-midatlantic writes: >>> > >>> >Guessing there us a way from the >>> prompt to change a drive's volune, >>> >but I did not find a way to do it. >>> >>> From the dead sergeant, you can select a boot device. Volume information >>> -- >>> label, structure, ownership, etc., etc. -- are manifestated in the >>> operating >>> system (VMS). If you had an issue with the device on SCSI id 2, you could >>> have physically removed that drive. The device would then not appear in >>> the >>> device configuration and the MOUNT command would fail: >>> >>> %MOUNT-F-NOSUCHDEV, no such device available >>> >>> Assuming there is no ON ERROR in the startup procedures, your system >>> should >>> then boot through the system startup to the point where you can login. At >>> that point, you can reconnect the device and issue: >>> >>> $ MCR SYSGEN AUTOCONFIGURE ALL >>> >>> Then, a: >>> >>> $ SHOW DEVICE D >>> >>> should show you your disk devices including the device at DKx200:. >>> >> >> >> >> >one last thing...I only had one bootable drive, and I could only get to the >$ prompt from the drive that was configured to mount and load some stuff >from the ID=2 drive. What you suggest above would work, but would still >have to have done what I did to get into minimal boot, etc. At least in >VMS 5 minimal boot does not mount nor include any other drive than the boot >drive in a $ show dev d. Minimum boot will not execute your system's SYSTARTUP_VMS (or *_V5 because you're living in the past). That is, typically, where one would add MOUNT commands to mount other device volumes available to the system. When you DO startup the system minimally, there are many other aspects of *normal* VMS startup that are also bypassed. You can also modify the system startup in SYSGEN when you boot conversationally (>>> BOOT/[R5:]1) and define the startup to the OPA0: (SYSBOOT> SET/STARTUP OPA0:). WHen your system boots, it will leave you at the DCL prompt ($). No need to even know the SYSTEM password or login to the SYSTEM account. However, when you do this, there is no error handling! A error, even a typo precipitating an unknown command syntax error, will kick you out with no resolve other than to reboot. The trick here is to issue a "$ SPAWN" command first. This way, you'll have a subprocess that, if it terminates, will dump you back into the STARTUP pro- cess. NOTE: If you change the startup, you will want to change it back. Conversationally boot. SYSBOOT> SET/STARTUP SYS$SYSTEM:STARTUP.COM and SYSBOOT> CONTINUE. On my systems, I MOUNT volumes in a procedure (I call SYSTARTUP_MOUNT.COM) that I run as a detached process. If it hangs up on a MOUNT I can still, eventually after STARTUP.COM and its scion complete, login.

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AOL keyword "RIP"
by Jeffrey Jonas 09 Oct '17

09 Oct '17

AIM, AOL's instant messaging service, is to shut down December 15 after 20 years of operation. I'm just re-tweeting this from hash-tag (something catchy but useless)

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FS: Very Early Bob Mullen S-100 Card Extender
by systems_glitch 09 Oct '17

09 Oct '17

link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/272880651747 This one just has initials, no actual Mullen name, but the PO Box address is the same. Unlike later Mullen cards, this one is just an extender -- no fuses, no logic probe, no prototype area. It uses a high quality 3VH50 mil-spec S-100 connector, which really grabs the inserted S-100 board. Previous owner applied labels with the S-100 pinout to the front and back. This extender is short enough to leave in with the chassis cover installed, so you don't have to pull it out every time you want to put the cover back on. My preferred style -- saves wear on motherboard S-100 connectors. Thanks, Jonathan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] vax scsi questions
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 09 Oct '17

09 Oct '17

william degnan via vcf-midatlantic writes: >This all came up because I wanted to replace a drive, but the only >replacement I had avail was also ID 2 but a diff volume name. >Systartup_v5.com was hanging on the mount of the drive. So, knowing no >other way, I had to access the OS via minimal boot to bypass systartup >and then comment out the mount of drive 2. In MIN state I could not >mount the new drive to initialize it so re!enabled a full boot. I >could not get to drive ID=2 in an ONLINE state. I mounted drive ID=2 to >initialize and change its volume name to.match the old volume name. >Next I returned systartup to mount drive id=2 (dkb200), and finally >rebooted into a normal system. > >The trial and error associated with all that was a useful learning >experience. > >Guessing there us a way from the >>> prompt to change a drive's volune, >but I did not find a way to do it. >From the dead sergeant, you can select a boot device. Volume information -- label, structure, ownership, etc., etc. -- are manifestated in the operating system (VMS). If you had an issue with the device on SCSI id 2, you could have physically removed that drive. The device would then not appear in the device configuration and the MOUNT command would fail: %MOUNT-F-NOSUCHDEV, no such device available Assuming there is no ON ERROR in the startup procedures, your system should then boot through the system startup to the point where you can login. At that point, you can reconnect the device and issue: $ MCR SYSGEN AUTOCONFIGURE ALL Then, a: $ SHOW DEVICE D should show you your disk devices including the device at DKx200:.

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OT: Test
by Jeffrey Brace 09 Oct '17

09 Oct '17

Where is my message?

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Festivus 2017 Dec. 9 & 10 - Signup
by Jeffrey Brace 09 Oct '17

09 Oct '17

Signup here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1odmPxfBK9BrR-NDZIx4_c-V2lZpt_-vU-3f…

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] vax scsi questions
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 08 Oct '17

08 Oct '17

william degnan via vcf-midatlantic writes: >> >> Some MicroVAXes in the 3100 series came with two SCSI busses. There >> are designated A and B. The SCSI id for the MicroVAX controller was >> typically 7; so devices could be attached with ids from 0 to 6. The >> naming of the devices, when VMS is booted are: >> >> ddcn: when dd is the name of the driver controlling the device. If >> the device is disk, this is DK (DKDRIVER). If the device is a tape, >> it's MK (MKDRIVER). The 'c' in the device designation if the adapter >> upon which the device is located. If there are two adapters, this is >> either A or B. The 'n' is the device number. Unless you're looking >> as a dvices served from a storage controller, the sub-LUN vallues are >> 0. So on your MicroVAX, you see somehting like a DKA300: for a disk >> addressed as SCSI id 3 on the A adapter. >> >> If you need more info, ask. > >This applies exactly, thanks. >Bill I should take this time to mention that there's also a GKDRIVER (generic SCSI); albeit, you'll need to connect that driver manually to the appro- priate SCSI id. I used to use a large HP bed scanner; it was SCSI based. Via the GKDRIVER, there was software that would allow me to scan pictures, documents, and whatever else I might place upon the scanner bed.

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FS: Two Processor Tech 4KRA 4K Static RAM S-100 Boards Tested/Working
by systems_glitch 08 Oct '17

08 Oct '17

Board #1: http://www.ebay.com/itm/272879702807 Board #2: http://www.ebay.com/itm/272879706168 I'm guessing both of these boards were used in the previous owner's Altair 8800 until they had RAM failures, and were likely replaced with something newer and less power-hungry. These are one of Processor Tech's earlier S-100 boards, and they use 32x low-power (for the time!) 2102 static RAMs. Both boards have been repaired and fully tested in my IMSAI 8080 with a 2 MHz 8080 CPU board. The first one is fully socketed and had five dead SRAMs. The second is not socketed and had one dead SRAM, which was replaced with a machine pin socket. The second one used soldered jumpers for address selection, so I switched it over to machine pin sockets for easy re-addressing. I'd suggest that these boards not be purchased by someone wanting a static RAM board for general debugging -- they're low-density, I don't believe they support the *PHANTOM line, 2102s aren't the world's most reliable SRAM, etc. They'd go nicely with an original Altair 8800 (especially if you have a CUTS system!) or SOL-20. Thanks, Jonathan

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FS: Processor Tech VDM-1 Video Board Tested/Working
by systems_glitch 08 Oct '17

08 Oct '17

link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/272879570374 This board had some trace damage in the address jumper area, which was repaired by installing machine pin sockets in all of the address jumper positions. One position had the through-hole completely pulled out, with no pads on either side -- the trace to this pin was repaired, and the pin secured in place with two-part epoxy. After repair to the address jumper area, it was found that the DM8131 address decoder was bad, this was replaced with a NOS part. As shown in the listing, this board is now 100% functional and tests out according to the Processor Tech manual. It was tested in my IMSAI 8080 with an Intel 8080 CPU board. Do note that this is an older design and requires I/O addresses to be mirrored (high byte should be the same as low byte). This is standard for 8080/8085 CPU boards, but other CPU boards (e.g. Z80) may not support it, or may require a jumper change. Thanks, Jonathan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] vax scsi questions
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 08 Oct '17

08 Oct '17

Jim Scheef via vcf-midatlantic writes: >Bill, Are the two SCSI port two separate bus or two ports on the same >bus (controller)? If there is only one bus, terminate the empty >connector. If there are two bus, turn off the empty bus. This is >standard SCSI. Duplicate SCSI ID's are a no-no and must be fixed. All >devices on the bus must has a unique ID. Hope this is what you asked. >Jim Which MicroVAX 3100 model? In general, each device on a SCSI bus must have a unique SCSI address. If, for example, two drives are address as SCSI id 3, you'll find you will have issues with both or corrupt one or both drives. Typically, the MicroVAX startup firmware will probe the SCSI bus and complain if there are SCSI id conflicts. Some MicroVAXes in the 3100 series came with two SCSI busses. There are designated A and B. The SCSI id for the MicroVAX controller was typically 7; so devices could be attached with ids from 0 to 6. The naming of the devices, when VMS is booted are: ddcn: when dd is the name of the driver controlling the device. If the device is disk, this is DK (DKDRIVER). If the device is a tape, it's MK (MKDRIVER). The 'c' in the device designation if the adapter upon which the device is located. If there are two adapters, this is either A or B. The 'n' is the device number. Unless you're looking as a dvices served from a storage controller, the sub-LUN vallues are 0. So on your MicroVAX, you see somehting like a DKA300: for a disk addressed as SCSI id 3 on the A adapter. If you need more info, ask.

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VAX stuff available
by william degnan 08 Oct '17

08 Oct '17

I have the following items available from a recent purchase. I got them from Fran down in Baltimore (I think he's on our list, in addition to CCTALK). I got more than I needed assuming others will want some of it. I will sell for same price as paid-for (tens of dollars), just to pass along to someone who might want them, at my cost.. VAX 4000-60 (I got two, keeping one) VAX 3100 (not microvax, has diskette drive, interesting) I also already had a few other items related to DEC VAX/Alpha/Rainbow that I don't need that you can pick through here. Ideally looking for someone to pop over to Landenberg and pick up. If you're looking to get into VAX/VMS cheap now is your chance. If there are no takers now I will bring what's left to Festivus in December. Contact me through vintagecomputer.net Trades excepted. Pickup only or wait until Festivus. Here is what I have, VAX-wise Alpha 2100 DEC 3000 Microvax 3100 * VAX 4000-200 * VAX 4000-60 (have two one avail) VAX 3100 Rainbow 100s and parts. (have three two avail) Cables VT 220's. (more terminals than keyboards) other terminals. VT100 (with no keyboard, needs flyback repair) * not available, what I am keeping Bill

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Collection downsizing
by Jonathan Gevaryahu 08 Oct '17

08 Oct '17

I very badly need to downsize the collection of computers and computer ephemera I have, and would appreciate any advice on the best way to go about doing so. The collection has grown over the past 15 years to far larger than I am able to handle at the current time. I do not have a complete inventory of the current collection, but it is a mixture of complete machines and spare parts. Is there some place I could drop off machines, 'free to a good home' or offer stuff 'free for the price of shipping/handling'? -- Jonathan Gevaryahu jgevaryahu(a)gmail.com jgevaryahu(a)hotmail.com

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vax scsi questions
by william degnan 08 Oct '17

08 Oct '17

working through from VAX 3100 / microvax SCSI drives. Three questions / looking for confirmation 1) true/false - it does not matter which scsi connector port you use, as long as the last drive's unconnected port has a terminator 2) true/false - drives have their names (DKB500, DKB300, etc) and they travel with the drive even if removed 3) true/false - show dev shows all drives attached to the computer that are properly terminated. 4) If question 2 is true and there are two drives with the same name, how does the VAX handle this? ignore the 2nd of same name? Thanks Bill

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Wanted: Dead ST-506
by Jason Perkins 07 Oct '17

07 Oct '17

Does anyone have a dead or otherwise very unhealthy ST-506 or ST-412 they'd want to get rid of for small / reasonable $$? I want to research replacing the bearing(s) in one of my Apple Profiles, and need a drive to experiment on. One with very noisy bearings and a snapped off head would be perfect! I do have a PC ST-506 mechanism that I think is working, but I've never tried it. The bearing sounds fine spinning it by hand. I lost the board that attaches to the bottom, but I don't want to destroy a possibly working drive. Thanks! -- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085

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[OT] Anyone Want to Carpool to Tandy Assembly?
by J. Alexander Jacocks 07 Oct '17

07 Oct '17

I’m looking for anyone who wants to carpool to Tandy Assembly, in the DC/southern PA area? I live near Frederick, MD, and am flexible on departure time, though I would like to attend for most, if not all, of Sunday. I have a large car, and am willing to drive it. Just looking for company, really. - Alex

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Fwd: More Free Dec (Mostly) Stuff Baltimore Maryland USA
by Evan Koblentz 06 Oct '17

06 Oct '17

-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: More Free Dec (Mostly) Stuff Baltimore Maryland USA Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2017 15:03:16 -0400 From: Fran Smith via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Reply-To: Fran Smith <fsmith(a)ladylinux.com>, General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Hiya, Purge continues I have 4 Dec "Pizza Box" Xterms A couple smaller Dec Dot Matrix Printers An Apple Imagewriter A Dec Repeater 200 A later Storage Works Pizza Box Slab A set of hard copy Open VMS documentation (Soft Bound) A ratty beat up PDP 11/03 ?? Backplane and Power supply (Appears to be like a 11/780 bootstrap console) All of these treasures are FREE!!! And if you want I have some interesting stuff for sale cheap and likely will give you more stuff free or cheap to haul away. Save me from this madness!! No shipping. Its just not worth shipping. Will hit the trash/recycle bin if not picked up within a week. -- Kindest Regards, Fran Smith Webology Hosting --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Free PDP full size rack to good home
by Andrew Molloy 06 Oct '17

06 Oct '17

I have a full size DEC rack looking for a new owner. It used to hold a PDP 11/34a and various drives that I have since given to the museum. Anyone want it? It's in Syracuse NY and you'd have to pick it up (I'd treat you to lunch if you made the trip). It's a heavy beast and probably 6 feet high. It has various rails too, plus a fan on top. I can provide pix if anyone is interested. Thanks, Andy

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Test, ignore
by Evan Koblentz 05 Oct '17

05 Oct '17

Nothing to see here.

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S-100 CCS long mobo
by Herb Johnson 04 Oct '17

04 Oct '17

Someone asked me for docs, for a California Computer Systems (CCS) S-100 motherboard, with 18 or 19 slots, model 2502. I've never seen one of those puppies. It's got circuits for reset, power-fail, and some kind of active termination, not sure what else. The CCS 2501 is smaller and much simpler. Here's a link to a photo of the board. Any docs would be appreciated. - Herb http://www.retrotechnology.com/z/ccs_2502.jpg -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Collection downsizing
by Evan Koblentz 04 Oct '17

04 Oct '17

> Evan, since you make all of us introduce ourselves when first posting to the list, an unsigned email from a generically named email address (“VCF Gmail <evan(a)vcfed.org>”) comes off as extremely weird; can we ask you to sign your emails? > > Thanks! > > David Sorry about that. It's fixed now. (It was a temporary thing while I moved 56,600 messages from a POP3 folder to an IMAP folder. My computer started its task at 3:30AM and finished 15 minutes ago. Impressive that it went the whole way without any hiccups.)

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FS: GW-OSI-RAM1 Ohio Scientific Universal RAM Boards, Prototype, Tested/Working
by systems_glitch 03 Oct '17

03 Oct '17

link: https://www.tindie.com/products/10621/ These are the last of my prototype run of GW-OSI-RAM1 Universal RAM boards. Listed in Tindie since eBay has decided that external links are against TOS, which means I can't even link the PDF manual! Thanks, Jonathan

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Univac tape drive
by Evan Koblentz 03 Oct '17

03 Oct '17

Here's a phone video from our last workshop. Bill Dromgoole demonstrating progress on one of the Univac tape drives. https://www.instagram.com/p/BZxg7e7DJ3r/ ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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Switching to Tindie, eBay Disallows Links to Documentation Now
by systems_glitch 30 Sep '17

30 Sep '17

All, I'm moving all of my open source hobby kits/projects to Tindie. I received a nastygram from eBay last night that I needed to remove all external links to my project descriptions and GitHub repos or my listings would be deleted. What good is selling a bare PC board without a link to the documentation and design files?! Anyway, my Tindie store can be found at the following address: https://www.tindie.com/stores/glitchwrks/ So far, Tindie seems to be better in all ways than eBay, except for of course viewership. Hopefully people will use it rather than shying away from an unknown. The focus at Tindie is DIY/hobby/maker projects, often open source, and often one hacker's hobby efforts. At least the "suggested items" will likely be relevant :) I did call eBay's customer service, and after wasting an hour wading through tech support hierarchy, I did get a non-call-center manager who understood the problem, but basically said, "your business is important to us, but not *that* important" -- he admitted that not having links to documentation basically made my eBay listings useless, but also admitted that there are no exceptions because eBay is scared someone will sell a $10 item outside of eBay once in a while. Thanks, Jonathan

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OT: Please volunteer for Infoage Halloween event (all October)
by Evan Koblentz 27 Sep '17

27 Sep '17

"Camp Evans Base of Terror" is Infoage's biggest annual fundraiser. It starts this Friday (September 29) and runs every Friday/Saturday night from 7pm-11pm) through October 28. They urgently need more volunteers for all sorts of roles. They're short for almost every night. Just like at VCF East, it is vital that they get firm commitments -- it's useless (if not completely counterproductive) to get responses from the "I'll try to stop by" or the "wish I could but..." people. Jeff B., Bill Drom., Duane, I are each volunteering for a few of the dates. Is anyone else available to be a volunteer for this event? If so, then which dates? Feel free to email me privately. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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Commodore Fans - what is this case for?
by John Heritage 26 Sep '17

26 Sep '17

I have a soft case for a commodore product, that I inherited when picking up a bunch of Atari stuff from a friend. What is this for? https://imgur.com/hL3HzMU https://imgur.com/hom82N4 https://imgur.com/WC04CSX It's not very thick - so I don't think it would fit any kind of a floppy drive, but I may be wrong.. similar 'feeling' as to whether it would hold a casette player for the c64 or something.. Anyway I'd appreciate any knowledge on this :)

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jade z80 cpu card
by william degnan 26 Sep '17

26 Sep '17

Quick show of hands....anyone have a working Jade Z80 CPU card that they use? Are these nice worth working to restore? I got one that came with a California Computer Systems S-100 computer. 8 years ago I tested it with an in-circuit emulator that seemed to indicate it was at least able to initiaize but I have not gotten it to talk nicely to an I/O card, garbles characters. I dropped the project to move onto something else. Thinking of returning to it to see if I could make more progress. BIll

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FS: Jade Bus Probe in Original Box w/ Manual, Tested/Working
by systems_glitch 26 Sep '17

26 Sep '17

All, I'm thinning out more S-100 stuff and have an extra Jade Bus Probe. This one is in the original shipping box, with an original manual. It's tested and fully working. Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/YDprP Asking $500/best offer plus shipping. Thanks, Jonathan

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World Maker Faire report
by Evan Koblentz 25 Sep '17

25 Sep '17

Hey everyone. World (NYC) Maker Faire was fantastic. The show was maybe 10% smaller than past years, but just as busy and the crowd was great. Special thanks to booth helpers Jeff B., Dean, Drew, Adam, and Mouse. Special thanks also to Jeff for driving Adam/I and most of the equipment + booth stuff; to Dean for bringing us a cooler; and Tony for loaning us Apple/Amdex color monitors + extra //c power supplies. We did something new this year: we brought VCFed's 100-inch portable screen, put in the back of our 10x20 booth, and set up a project front/center. That way the back/center of our booth was one massive screen. We displayed our logo on the right half of the screen and an emulated Apple II in a window on the left half of the screen. We put large dark tarps above and to the side of the booth to keep out sunlight. It worked well: the booth was dark enough to clearly/sharply see our logo and the emulated Apple II display, but light enough that it didn't bother anything. We had three live demo stations (//c) along the back for kids to learn BASIC and a front desk to greet visitors. I couldn't take any pictures: dropped my phone Saturday morning when we arrived and broke its screen. Got it fixed today. $159 "stupid tax". Spotted visiting us: Chris F., Rolf, Stephen E.; David S. from the Trenton event; the 2600/HOPE crew; Stephen C. from IEEE Spectrum; Eric L. who donated the Lego robotics kit last year, and at least a dozen other friends-of-VCF. I could not possibly remember/list them all. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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OT - PC related
by Martin A Flynn 23 Sep '17

23 Sep '17

OT Our host, InfoAge has a really old Dell desktop pc running the motion control system for the TLM-18 (the big white antenna up the road from the VCF museum). This is due to the I/O boards requiring 5 volt PCI slots (not PCI-e or PCI-X). I am building InfoAge a new computer, using an MSI MS-98A9 motherboard, which supports the I/O boards they have. Here's the request: Anyone have an i5Sandy Bridge Series CPU (LGA 1155 socket) floating around that they can donate? Can be anything out of that cpu family as the requirements are pretty low. Martin Flynn

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Maker Faire discount tickets
by Evan Koblentz 22 Sep '17

22 Sep '17

Maker Faire is this weekend. They gave us five extra one-day discount tickets. These are $30 each vs. regular price of $50 each. Email me off-list to get one. Limit one per person, in the name of being fair to everyone. But I might post otherwise later today if they are still available. No point wasting them. (Our booth staff -- me, Brace, Adam, Mouse, Dean, Drew -- are using our allotment of free tickets.) ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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Museum report
by Herb Johnson 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

>....excellent condition Ithaca InterSystems DPS-1. I exhibited two of these at VCF-East 2016. They are nice S-100 machines. But the chips get "rusty" in an odd way, the leads turn black. HEre's how I fixed mine: http://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/ith_feb16_repairs.html Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Free Serial Logitech Steering Wheel and Pedals
by John Heritage 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

Hey I have an old Logitech Wingman Force steering wheel and pedals if anyone wants it. It's a serial port model, and includes a power supply. While I'm selling it on Ebay if anyone on this list wants it, it's free if you would just pay shipping charges. (local pickup would be near King of Prussia, PA). Here's my listing with pictures: http://www.ebay.com/itm/202059824348?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p398… It's been sitting around so long I have no idea if it works, and I don't know how modern software drivers work with this via the serial port anyway. Message me if interested. John

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Tandy Assembly
by Peter Cetinski 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

Does everyone here know about Tandy Assembly in October? http://www.tandyassembly.com/ It's going to be the largest gathering of Tandy Radio Shack enthusiasts since the 1980s! Disclaimer: This is not a VCF event so apologies if I'm being improper with the list. Pete

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Let's help Lee Felsenstein
by Evan Koblentz 20 Sep '17

20 Sep '17

Lee Felsenstein -- of Free Speech Movement, Community Memory, Homebrew Computer Club, Pennywhistle Modem, Processor Technology SOL-20, and Osborne fame -- is starting a Patreon. He's also been an avid supporter of the vintage computing hobby (including VCF West and once went out of his way to visit one of our NJ museum workshops!) Everyone should help him if you can. http://www.patreon.com/lfelsenstein ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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semi OT: BBC micro:bit on sale at Microcenter
by Jeffrey Jonas 19 Sep '17

19 Sep '17

I know it's a hard sell compared to the $5 Raspberry Pi zero, but http://microbit.org/ The BBC micro:bit is a pocket-sized codeable computer with motion detection, a built-in compass and Bluetooth technology, which was given free to every child in year 7 or equivalent across the UK in 2016. A collaboration between 29 partners, the BBC micro:bit is the BBC's most ambitious education initiative in 30 years, with an ambition to inspire digital creativity and develop a new generation of tech pioneers. They are on sale at Microcenter. $10 is the bare board. The kit includes battery holder, USB cable. The edge connector seems to be hard to get :-( http://www.microcenter.com/product/480031/MicroBit Element 14 Micro:Bit now $9.99 (was $12.99 SAVE $3.00) 10+ in stock at North Jersey / Paterson Store http://www.microcenter.com/product/480034/MicroBit_Go_Kit Element 14 Micro:Bit Go Kit 10+ in stock at North Jersey / Paterson Store now $11.99 (was $16.49 SAVE $4.50)

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Inventor of Unix Chroot?
by Evan Koblentz 19 Sep '17

19 Sep '17

Help me with a research thingamajig. I want to find out who made Chroot. Wikipedia -- purely as a starting point -- shows a comment in the Chroot talk page stating, "This system call was present [in] AT&T versions of Unix well before 1982. This citation should be changed to point to an AT&T version. Indeed, Research's UNIX V7 sources (usr/sys/sys/sysent.c dated May 7th, 1979) has an entry at position 61 for chroot(2); the fact is even noted under the article about V7..." See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AChroot#Bill_Joy_did_not_invent_chroot I know many of you are old-school Unix users/developers and some of you worked at AT&T. Who can help me find out which specific people (I need names) actually invented Chroot? ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 19 Sep '17

19 Sep '17

Mixed bag today. There were very few visitors but a lot of good things happened! Howard B., of the ACGNJ + TCF old days, brought us a donation of an excellent condition Ithaca InterSystems DPS-1. He said it's perfectly working including the 8" drives and external HDD. He included boot disks, backups, all the cables, manuals, and even spare paddle switches. He's still working on the terminal and will bring us that in due time. This is a very nice donation! Our other DPS is in poor shape. He has other things to donate soon. Steve A. also brought a donation of a nice tape drive. I spent a couple of hours packing things for Maker Faire next weekend.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] FW: Free Alpha Server 2100 (USA Mid Atlantic)
by VAXman＠tmesis.org 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

Paul Birkel via vcf-midatlantic writes: >Contact Fran Smith <fsmith(a)ladylinux.com> > >-----Original Message From CCTALK ----- Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 >1:06 PM Subject: Free Alpha Server 2100 (USA Mid Atlantic) > >Hiya, > >Free as in Beer come and get it. Its complete including disk drives and >other than dusty is in pretty good shape. I am in the Baltimore City >area and it must be gone by this weekend. Or I will break it down >Saturday and recycle the rest. > >Also I have some other stuff that is related I might throw in. > >I lied about the Free but not the Beer. But I would love it if a six >pack of nice Autumm Craft beer was dropped off. > >Fran FWIW, I have a HUGE stockpile of Alpha systems from AlphaStation 200s to ES40s. If anybody is interested, let me know. I can provide you an itemized list if you ask and I can bring them to the Winter get together.

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FW: Free Alpha Server 2100 (USA Mid Atlantic)
by Paul Birkel 18 Sep '17

18 Sep '17

Contact Fran Smith <fsmith(a)ladylinux.com> -----Original Message From CCTALK ----- Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 1:06 PM Subject: Free Alpha Server 2100 (USA Mid Atlantic) Hiya, Free as in Beer come and get it. Its complete including disk drives and other than dusty is in pretty good shape. I am in the Baltimore City area and it must be gone by this weekend. Or I will break it down Saturday and recycle the rest. Also I have some other stuff that is related I might throw in. I lied about the Free but not the Beer. But I would love it if a six pack of nice Autumm Craft beer was dropped off. Fran

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