July 2016 - vcf-midatlantic

I meant (oops)...Paging Ray Fantini
by william degnan 20 Jul '16

20 Jul '16

After a confused conversation with Ray Sills....Ray Fantini - are you out there? I wanted to talk about the RL11 project but I have not heard back from you and I can't find your email address or phone # in my home. Bill -- @ BillDeg: Web: vintagecomputer.net Twitter: @billdeg <https://twitter.com/billdeg> Youtube: @billdeg <https://www.youtube.com/user/billdeg> Unauthorized Bio <http://www.vintagecomputer.net/readme.cfm>

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Urgent!! Z-100 update
by Evan Koblentz 20 Jul '16

20 Jul '16

I don’t think a train woul work. Someone would have to get it to the train station (Sridhar can't due to this work schedule). Also while the computer is not large, it is quite heavy! Basically it's an S-100 chassis with the screen and floppy drive all integrated. However I am chasing some car leads... stay tuned.

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paging ray sills
by william degnan 20 Jul '16

20 Jul '16

Ray - I have been trying to reach you...are you around? Bill Degnan

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Urgent!! Z-100 update
by Systems Glitch 20 Jul '16

20 Jul '16

> I take an Amtrak train that passes through Poughkeepsie between 7 and 8 am on Thursday on my way to NYC. Amtrak also offers a Package Express service, if it comes to that. Someone could also take Metro North into Poughkeepsie, pick it up, and ride back. It's not that big of a machine. Thanks, Jonathan

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Urgent!! Z-100 update
by Evan Koblentz 20 Jul '16

20 Jul '16

Sridhar got the computer from Ian, so now it is in Poughkeepsie, no longer Schenectady. WE MUST GET IT TO HOPE THIS WEEKEND. It could be brought to my place in northern NJ or directly to the show this weekend, but getting it there is not optional. I am under no-driving orders from my dr. so we need someone else to do this. Someone please step up!!

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum Report 7/16 & 7/17
by Dave McGuire 19 Jul '16

19 Jul '16

On 07/19/2016 08:53 PM, Bill Sudbrink via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > Originally, if I recall correctly, it was: > > sync > sync > sync > halt > > Yea, later on, all that fancy "shutdown -h" really made the > sync's unnecessary. The syncs were never actually necessary. > But, can you really trust the jerk who wrote the shutdown routine? Generally speaking, yes. ;) > Slightly changing subjects, I don't recall ever seeing the > system in question. The first 68K *nix box I ever played > with was a Masscomp. An MC-500 if memory serves. Is that > the machine we're talking about here? No, the AT&T UNIX PC 7300, a.k.a. the 3B1. It was by no means the first 68K-based UNIX system, of course. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum Report 7/16 & 7/17
by Dave McGuire 19 Jul '16

19 Jul '16

On 07/19/2016 09:10 PM, Bill Sudbrink via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >>> Originally, if I recall correctly, it was: >>> >>> sync >>> sync >>> sync >>> halt >>> >>> Yea, later on, all that fancy "shutdown -h" really made the >>> sync's unnecessary. >> >> The syncs were never actually necessary. > > Hate to argue with you, but in BSD, "back in the old days" I think "halt" > was "right now", no cleanup, no dirty writes, just a little better than > yanking the cord out of the wall. Perhaps I am remembering a shutdown script? But I've always done "sync;sync;halt", and I distinctly remember a buffer flush in the halt program. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Museum Report 7/16 & 7/17
by Brian L. Stuart 19 Jul '16

19 Jul '16

On Tue, 7/19/16, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > Actually none of us ever HAD to do anymore than zero syncs. A final > sync() is done before the filesystem is umounted. Doing a sync at all, > especially more than one, is nothing more than superstition. Admittedly, it's been over 30 years so my memory may be faulty, but I seem to remember that in 6th Edition there wasn't a shutdown program or script that unmounted the root file system. As I recall, the documentation specified that sync should be run before hitting the halt swtich on the 11. > I myself use two. =) Me too BLS

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Museum Report 7/16 & 7/17
by Jeffrey Brace 19 Jul '16

19 Jul '16

I forgot to mention in the workshop report that I was also giving tours to visitors both Saturday and Sunday. There was about a dozen visitors each day. It was nice to have other VCF members around who could help add more information to the tours. They could add more in depth knowledge about systems that they have worked on. For example Bill I. showed parts of the analog EAI machine and explained in more detail the mechanics and composition. == Jeff Brace

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] UNIX PC, was Re: Museum Report 7/16 & 7/17
by Brian L. Stuart 19 Jul '16

19 Jul '16

On Tue, 7/19/16, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > The big deal with the UNIX PC is that it's a full-blown UNIX > system on a desktop for less than $10K, when such a thing was unheard of. It is a sweet little machine. One of these days, I'm going to have to write up my "desert island" experience with the first one I got. I picked it up at a hamfest in the early '90s missing a disk drive and without the compiler suite. To make things more interesting, it was a period when I didn't have Internet access. But i still managed to get gcc running on it. The secret is that it's possible to write a 68000 disassembler in AWK. :) It's also been useful in that I still use it's MMU for questions on my OS exams sometimes. > As a matter of opinion, this machine has the finest keyboard > I have every used on any platform. I completely agree. I miss using mine. BLS

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