January 2017 - vcf-midatlantic

Advice on Xenix VCF exhibit
by Jason Perkins 11 Feb '17

11 Feb '17

VCFers, I'm working on planning my exhibit for this year. To keep things not identical to last year I was thinking of showing Xenix on my Lisa. However I'm worried the exhibit won't be interesting enough to the general public (Oh look, it runs. Oh look, it's Unix. Oh look, there's a clunky menu interface you can bring up.) Of course games are always interesting... however as far as I know none were made. The system does have a Pascal compiler, so perhaps that's an option to get something new into the system? Failing that, perhaps showing off Michael Brutman's MTCP suite would be better? I'm open to suggestions. Thanks! -- Jason Perkins

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Why isn't my program working?
by Evan Koblentz 02 Feb '17

02 Feb '17

Dan R. and I were up late, via phone + Facebook, trying to solve the latest bug in the quest to make cool Lego computer-controlled robots. A few days ago I gave up on the last version of the robot and make a new one. The previous version had a steering issue: it was rack-and-pinion style, like a car, but the Lego sensors (opto and touch) couldn't react fast enough to switch off the pinion motor. Thus the rack would keep moving after hitting its mechanical limit, breaking the Legos (or I'd strengthen the Lego construction and then risk burning out the motor). So I took it apart and made an all-new robot. This one has tank treads controlled by individual motors on each side. In the software, my first choice was to control it via keyboard: I'd pick four keys in the corners of a square pattern to represent the treads moving left/forward, left/reverse, right/forward, right/reverse. I wanted the user to have to hold the buttons down, like a gas pedal, for the motors to keep going. Applesoft expects the opposite -- press-and-release to do anything. We tried various tricks but at best the relevant bits would stutter on-off-on-off, not stay on as needed. Thinking it might be a keyboard issue, I switched to joystick button control. Button 0 for left tread, button 1 for right tread. When that works, then I'll made the joystick movement act as a shifter for forward/reverse on each tread. Same problem! With the latest test code I've got one motor stuttering and the other working smoothly (again this is in gas pedal style -- press and hold to keep the motor going). Here's where it gets really weird. Dan and I weren't sure where the problem resides, so I tried it in Logo. Works perfectly! That proved the problem isn't the joystick nor the Lego hardware interface. (I also tried swapping my well-used Lego hardware interface for the new-in-box one that Ben G. loaned us; same problem.) Back to BASIC. Swapped the button 0 and button 1 code positions in my test program. It still has the problem with the button 0 bit stuttering, even though it executes button 1 first! What the.... I'm stumped. Here is the test code (Lego subroutines excluded; they work fine): 10 REM INITIALIZE LEGO INTERFACE 20 GOSUB 1000 30 REM CLEAR THE MOTOR BITS 40 T(0)=0:T(1)=0:GOSUB 1215: (refers to ports 0-1 on the 7-port interface box; routine 1215 turns bits off) 50 REM CHECK JOYSTICK BUTTONS 60 B0=PEEK(49249) 70 IF B0>127 THEN T(0)=1:GOSUB 1115: REM TURNS ON BIT 0 80 IF B0<127 THEN T(0)=0:GOSUB 1215: REM TURNS OFF BIT 0 90 B1=PEEK(49250) 100 IF B1>127 THEN T(1)=1:GOSUB 1115: REM TURNS ON BIT 1 110 IF B1<127 THEN T(1)=0:GOSUB 1215: REM TURNS OFF BIT 2 120 GOTO 50 Other things we tried: swapping motors, swapping wires, different ports on the interface box, non-consecutive ports, rearranging the code lines to alternate (such as PEEK for B0/B1, enable one motor, enable the other, disable one, disable the other, loop). Also tried using the keyboard equivalents to joystick buttons 0/1 which on my computer (//e Platinum) are open-Apple and Option (Option = closed Apple from the earlier //e). I lost track of the results from each individual experiment (and I'm not going to do them all again), but they were all either the same or worse. Again, right now with the above code, the motor attached to button 0 stutters (you can even see port 0's LED flashing every couple of seconds) while the motor attached to port 1 goes on, stays on smoothly while you hold button 1, and turns off when you let go. Sooooo.... the problem isn't the joystick, the hardware, the Legos, or the computer. And it works fine in Logo. That leaves one thing: BASIC. How do I fix this? ________________________________ 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

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Eniac in the "news"
by William Dudley 31 Jan '17

31 Jan '17

http://hackaday.com/2017/01/31/eniac-the-way-we-were Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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sort of OT: "vintage" Oscilloscope for sale
by William Dudley 31 Jan '17

31 Jan '17

I have a pristine but untested RCA/Heath oscilloscope, looks to be from the 80's. Debug your Apple ][ with period appropriate hardware? Looking for $25 but make an offer if you think that's too salty. (The money is for the owner; I'm just the middleman.) picture here: http://www.dudley.nu/oscope_825.jpg I've also located and downloaded the Heath manual for it, and will make that available to the buyer. Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux.

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PDP industrial/11 Progress
by william degnan 30 Jan '17

30 Jan '17

Hey all ... very happy to report I finally got my PDP 11/40 "industrial/11" to boot using RL11 controller to RL02 drive, running RT-11 at the moment. Long story short, the CPU and power seemed OK but I could not get the @#$! thing to boot RT-11 using an RL11 controller. I have been combing through the system for the better part of a year I guess to try to figure out why. I'll write up what I finally did to get it to work when I get the chance, but in short the DD11-CF backplane I was using had issues and was the cause of my problems. The industrial/11 is a PDP 11/40 with a red white and blue front panel, and most of the hardware is 1974. I need to add more RAM as I am only using 16K core at the moment but it's enough to boot the RT11 disk Ray Fantini so kindly made for me. Whew. Bill

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OT: SD card reader (USB) needed
by Andy Meyer 30 Jan '17

30 Jan '17

Does anyone have an SD card reader to USB that I can buy/borrow? I seem to have misplaced mine. Reply direct to me. Thanks Andy

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All robots need arms
by Evan Koblentz 30 Jan '17

30 Jan '17

This is entirely Dan's fault. :) He joked about an arm for Leinard Legobot, I said it's too difficult, and then of course I was up all night and all morning building it! Right now I have an arm that extends out of Leinad like an extension ladder. It works pretty well but its only capability is to emerge and retract. Not very exciting. Oh... and I used Lego hydraulics to make it tilt up and down. :) You have to pump it manually. I could automate the pumping with another motor, but all of the interface box ports are full. ________________________________ 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

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Signup for repair workshop! (Feb 11 & 12, 2017). Be there or be cubed.
by Jeffrey Brace 30 Jan '17

30 Jan '17

DATE: February 11 & 12, 2017 LOCATION: InfoAge Building 9032A - (2201 Marconi Road, Wall Township, NJ) TIME: Start about 10 A.M. on Saturday and ends whenever we go to sleep. End about 5 P.M. on Sunday. (Starts around 10 A.M. Sunday morning) SIGNUP: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13GnWX3AajJRMede2N7BrVht2j26hyt4lQoO… COST: - $10 for all members attending the workshop, which VCF donates to InfoAge as thanks for providing the space for us. - $25 for those wanting to stay overnight. Please pay me when you get there so that I don't forget. OVERNIGHT: Bring your own pillow, blankets, soap etc. We provide a bed frame and an uncovered mattress. There are showers and a kitchen for your use. - We will have PayPal credit card swipes available. EQUIPMENT: - VCF will provide a table and you can use any available electrical outlet. - Bring your own tools, power strips, power cords, and supplies etc. DRINKS: You should bring your own. I would recommend bringing a cooler of some type. FOOD: You provide your own. We may order pizza or go out to a dinner. Usually, we make a decision when everyone gets hungry. GATE: During the hours from 1 pm to 5 pm close the front gate behind you. We want museum visitors to go to the front lobby and not wander through the middle of the campus. Outside of those times, you can feel free to leave the gate open. PARKING: Park across from 9032A on the grass area. WEATHER: We will watch the weather very carefully. Snow is a predicted Saturday. We will make a judgment Friday night weather we will cancel due to snow. QUESTIONS? Please ask me (Jeff Brace) or Evan. My cell is 732-759-1783 and Evan’s is 646-546-9999 in case you need to contact us. See everyone there! And have fun! -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com

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CompuPro question/help
by Richard A Cini 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

All – I’ve been struggling recently getting any kind of x86-type system running on the S100. I have a mix of boards, but couldn’t get any to get me to a “boot”. Rich Camarda has a bunch of boards on eBay, so I emailed him to get confirmed jumper settings. To start, this is what I had in my system: CompuPro 86/87, RAM22, Disk 1, and the System Support board. While I don’t have a CompuPro diskette, I at least wanted to get the boot sequence to work. Nothing would work, even pared down to the troubleshooting-minimum from the manual (the CPU and Disk 1). For the drives, I’m using modified YD-380 PC/AT drives to replace 8” as I do on my IMSAI. I have an SCP 8086 board so I swapped it for the 86/87 board and now I get the boot activity (drive access, pause, drive access, etc.) per the description in the manual. Not sure what’s wrong with the 86/87 board I have (was bought “working” but who knows), so if there’s an expert out there, please contact me off-list. I also have a few Z80 processor boards I wouldn’t mind trading for the CompuPro Z80 CPU card. Also contact me off-list for that. Next up is getting something bootable going. Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini http://www.classiccmp.org/cini http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32

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New Floppy Days Podcast #69 - The Commodore Vic-20 History, with Brian Bagnall, Michael Tomczyk, Neil Harris
by Randall Kindig 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-69-the-commodore-vic-20-history-wi… <http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-69-the-commodore-vic-20-history-wi…> A new episode of Floppy Days about the Commodore Vic-20!! I was able to get a few notables from the Commodore & Vic-20 community to help me do this documentary-style retrospect on the history of this important machine. Some of the people you may have heard of Including: Michael Tomczyk - Advisor to Jack Tramiel and leader of the Vic Commando Team Neil Harris - Commodore employee and key member of the Vic Commando Team, before he went to Atari with the Tramiels Brian Bagnall - author of "Commodore: A Company on the Edge" I hope you enjoy this!! Randy Kindig, host Floppy Days Podcast floppydays.com

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