Hello Thank you. Tar attachment is my favorite way to send data via e-mail.
It also compiles and runs on both FreeBSD 14.3 and OpenBSD 7.8 with zero errors. Now let's see if the stinky, oil-dirty marxist-leninist rusty half-breed wreck obeys the new commands. I forgot to bring the sledge hammer in case it acts stupid and requires a hard reset. But first I have to read about mr. Jonny Billquist. It is the first time I hear his name. The first google search result page made my eyes as big as the tape reels in the drive so I have to grab some popcorns&chips and start reading all night until tomorrow. You helped me find another great and passionate scientist. Thank you. On Wed, May 27, 2026 at 11:34 PM Jacob Ritorto <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Vasile and you’re welcome. > This is Johnny Billquist’s — he might have a more fresh copy but here’s > the old one I used on 2.11BSD just yesterday. I don’t know where else to > find it other than asking Johnny. > > You’ll need a fairly recent 2BSD system, if I remember right, for it to > compile. > Pls find tar attachment (& sorry to the rest of the list ,I don’t know how > to do attachments :) > > > > Love the one version of the story, btw! Good luck. > > > On May 27, 2026, at 16:26, Vasile Buruiana via cctalk < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hello and thank you for the hints. > > > > Short version: > > Would you please tell me some more details about where to find " > *Johnny's > > tpw under 2.11BSD* " utility, which *"it achieved writing simh TAP to a > > real TK50"* ? It will be of great help. > > > > Long version: > > > > I'm working at a PERTEC-interfaced tape emulator using some Am2900 > > bit-slice processors and a STM32. Currently I somehow replicated the simh > > .TAP but it does not fully follow and respect its format. My emulator > reads > > tapes, dumps content inside 4 x 32MB EDO RAM for the data, and 1 x 4 MB > EDO > > RAM for the 'map of the tape' - file sizes, filemark separators and so > on. > > When EOT is reached, the tape is rewinded while the big RAM content is > > dumped [AM2900 side] into a microSD card [STM32 side] while following > the > > tape map from the smaller RAM, in such a way that the resulting file > > becomes a frankensteined simh tap file. It can also do the reverse - > reads > > that frankenstein TAP [STM32] and writes it to the tape. > > The STM32 acts like an i/o interface to the microSD and also as a user > > interface. All the rest (i/o protocol, interrupts, ram transfers) is done > > with physical gates and some diode logic ROM, for me to keep the stm32 > > software part as simple as possible. Whatever I could implement with > > external hardware, I did. > > > > The big weirdness is as following: whatever format is dumped from the > > physical tape inside my "not-quite-simh TAP" file, it appears to be > > converted and written correctly back on another physical 9-track tape, as > > it can be correctly read by another frankensteined half-breed dinosaur > made > > from some communist Romanian clones of PDP11 (called Coral 4030) - the > > boards - and French CII IRIS50 (called Felix C-256) - the i/o > peripherals: > > tape drives, punched card, cassette tapes and so on. > > > > However my "not-quite-simh" TAP is not accepted by simh and also not > > accepted by the 'unvtape' program from you, mr. Jacob Ritorto, from your > > github. > > > > But if the STM32 sends data to its own RAM chip (the board > containing > > the stm32 is *waveshare's core429i*), then extracts it back, the simh > file > > format result is as perfect as it is supposed to be. But I can't use that > > RAM with the rest of the system, as there are not enough spare i/o ports > > left in order to talk to the AM2900 side. > > > > The EDO Rams are tested and they work absolutely fine. I made some > mistakes > > for sure while building the physical board (bad/expired beer?), some > little > > mess with the gates which I can't fully follow - unable to replicate the > > initial conditions, I no longer have that bad beer which gave me > headaches > > during the design phase. Now I have only the good stuff. > > > > So I am asking for help in order to run that "*tpw" *program and follow > > the registers, while graphing the physical measurements logic using two > > HP1662 logic analyzers: would you please let me know where I may find it? > > > > This is an older version of my pertec tape drive emulator. The project > > advances slowly - not too much spare time available, not even to update > > with new pictures and progress. My wife, child and workplace demand 99% > of > > my attention. Unfortunately I have limited knowledge about working with > > github, mostly because it is owned by Microsoft (and used for inspiring > > their business, that's why I refused to learn about it), and also > because I > > am used to the old times when programs were stored & exchanged on > cassettes > > and floppies, and version control was manually followed with pen and > paper. > > At this time it is easier and faster for me this way. > > > > https://hackaday.com/2019/05/02/a-mainframe-tape-drive-emulator/ > > > > Thank you. > > > > > > Vasile > > > > > > > > > > > > > >> On Tue, May 26, 2026 at 8:00 PM <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> > >> > >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >> > >> Message: 1 > >> Date: Tue, 26 May 2026 12:08:09 -0400 > >> From: Jacob Ritorto <[email protected]> > >> Subject: [cctalk] Re: ...a .TAP by any other name... > >> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > >> <[email protected]> > >> Message-ID: > >> < > >> cahyqbfaspc+gs6mrzv5epmt__kp_xb-wvfubo9k-hicsx8i...@mail.gmail.com> > >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > >> > >> Thank you for that ,Ken - good to have in the pocket! > >> I tried Johnny's tpw under 2.11BSD and it achieved writing simh TAP to a > >> real TK50. So I'm booting real hardware from that sept 1992 rsts/e > image > >> now! > >> > >> > >> End of cctalk Digest, Vol 1186, Issue 1 > >> *************************************** > >> >
