Re: Help ID'ing a PDP-8/A Omnibus board

[Paul Anderson via cctalk]

I have a bunch of Sunstrand and other NC/CNC boards here, but I thing they
were labeled as Sunstrand. I don't remember ever seeing that one, and not
sure if I have any for an 8. Most of the ones I have are Unibus.

Paul

On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 11:24 AM systems_glitch via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> From the layout and text font, I'd guess Sundstrand (CNC machine company)
> but usually they put their logo/name on boards. I only have Unibus
> Sundstrand boards in the shop at the moment, but none of them have that B
> logo. Wouldn't be surprised if the B logo is from whoever made the boards,
> as in the actual board fab house.
>
> Thanks,
> Jonathan
>
> On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 12:07 PM Josh Dersch via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> > Hey all --
> >
> > Got a PDP-8/A at VCFW this past weekend.  It's an OEM model sans
> programmer
> > panel and was apparently used in a CNC application.  It contains a board
> > I'm trying to ID.  It says "PDP-8/A CONSOLE ROM" on it and has no other
> > identifying marks other than a logo on the back.  See the pictures here:
> >
> > http://yahozna.dyndns.org/scratch/pdp-8/8aconsole1.jpg
> > http://yahozna.dyndns.org/scratch/pdp-8/8aconsole2.jpg
> > 
> >
> > None of the braintrust at VCF were able to identify this mark.  I'd guess
> > that the board provides a simple ODT interface or something similar.  The
> > three ICs in the upper-left with the handwritten labels are 82S129 256x4
> > bipolar PROMs.  They're not socketed so I haven't read them in yet.  The
> > 8/A's gonna need some TLC before I dare power it on...
> >
> > I'm mostly curious if anyone can ID the logo -- it would be interesting
> to
> > know who made this thing.
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Josh
> >
>

ADM-3A question

[Charles via cctalk]

I bought an ADM-3A on ebay. The monitor and the circuit board/keyboard are 
from two different terminals - confirmed by hand-engraved serial numbers on 
the halves that don't match.

Not to mention the two different case colors (pale blue top, blue bottom)!
But it does have the lower-case option already installed :)

Anyhow, there appears to be some breakdown of the CRT implosion plate 
silicone (screen rot). I've read about this problem before, so no real 
surprise
It seems to be turning into brown "goop" which has run down onto the circuit 
board.
Do I need to remove the goop before powering it up? Or is it nonconductive 
and hopefully noncorrosive, so it can wait until I remove the implosion 
plate and fix it?


thanks
Charles


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RE: Raspberry Pi write cycles

[Jim MacKenzie via cctalk]

-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Adam Thornton 
via cctalk
Sent: Friday, August 9, 2019 3:44 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: Raspberry Pi write cycles

I did have a case where the Pi I was using as secondary DNS/DHCP and as the 
secondary backup server (using USB spinning disk) destroyed its SD card.

But then it turned out not to be the load at all.  No matter what I ran on that 
Pi, it would corrupt its SD cards in a matter of weeks (the symptom was that 
the fourth bit of some bytes would just stick on).  I assume it was just 
something broken in the Pi itself.
===
The usual cause of this is an insufficiently beefy power supply.  Every Pi that 
I ever had that ate SD cards ceased the habit when I put a better supply on it.

Jim

Re: I'm sharing a toy

[U'll Be King of the Stars via cctalk]

On 09/08/2019 14:35, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:

I don't think writing SIMH device emulators for things like the DEC Unibus D/A 
and A/D devices, or the DR11-A, would be at all hard.


Sounds like a big challenge to me, but one that I would feel blessed 
with having on my agenda.  If it's not hard for you then you're the kind 
of person I'd love to bump in to one day and end up having as a mentor :-)


Andrew
--
OpenPGP key: EB28 0338 28B7 19DA DAB0  B193 D21D 996E 883B E5B9

Re: Raspberry Pi write cycles

[ben via cctalk]

On 8/9/2019 3:43 PM, Adam Thornton via cctalk wrote:


And, you know, if you manage to cause my SD cards in those machines to
fail, well, gosh, guess I'm out $10 or so for a new one.  I'm not bothering
to back up any of the stuff inside 'em, btw (so those of you using 'em,
seriously, save your work elsewhere if it's precious--and, um, yeah, unless
you're on OpenVMS, TOPS-20, or ITS, you don't have a TCP/IP stack and since
you don't have a direct terminal interface into it, that probably means
copying and pasting from the terminal session...but if you have something
you really want off it that's larger than a couple of screens full, just
write me a note and I can likely extract it for you more reasonably).

Adam


Have you looked at industrial sd cards?
Ben.

Raspberry Pi write cycles

[Adam Thornton via cctalk]

I did have a case where the Pi I was using as secondary DNS/DHCP and as the
secondary backup server (using USB spinning disk) destroyed its SD card.

But then it turned out not to be the load at all.  No matter what I ran on
that Pi, it would corrupt its SD cards in a matter of weeks (the symptom
was that the fourth bit of some bytes would just stick on).  I assume it
was just something broken in the Pi itself.

I will state here, for the record, that if someone can spam effectively --
or be a botnet C node -- from TOPS/10 on a PDP-10 emulated on my Pi, my
irritation at having my systems abused will probably be overwhelmed by my
admiration at their dedication.

(Traffic encryption via simh is incredibly painful.  You have to turn login
delay way up to run NetBSD on VAX on a Pi if you want to be able to ssh
into it; the machine itself runs fine-ish, but the zillions of cycles to
encrypt the traffic swamps it in no time.)

And, you know, if you manage to cause my SD cards in those machines to
fail, well, gosh, guess I'm out $10 or so for a new one.  I'm not bothering
to back up any of the stuff inside 'em, btw (so those of you using 'em,
seriously, save your work elsewhere if it's precious--and, um, yeah, unless
you're on OpenVMS, TOPS-20, or ITS, you don't have a TCP/IP stack and since
you don't have a direct terminal interface into it, that probably means
copying and pasting from the terminal session...but if you have something
you really want off it that's larger than a couple of screens full, just
write me a note and I can likely extract it for you more reasonably).

Adam

Re: I'm sharing a toy

[Fritz Mueller via cctalk]

> I don't think writing SIMH device emulators for things like the DEC Unibus 
> D/A and A/D devices, or the DR11-A, would be at all hard.

Yes; I have also thought it would be nice to have something like a DR11-C in 
simh, which could be configured to call into a dynamic library containing user 
code to emulate a custom connected device.

   --FritzM.

RE: Sealed Sun memory modules

[Electronics Plus via cctalk]

It would be nice if I were not dyslexic! Correct PN is 501-5030. Set of 4 is
X7051A.

There are 52 sealed new sticks. $10 per stick of memory.

Cindy


-Original Message-
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of JP Hindin
via cctalk
Sent: Friday, August 09, 2019 1:36 PM
To: Electronics Plus via cctalk
Subject: Re: Sealed Sun memory modules



On Fri, 9 Aug 2019, Electronics Plus via cctalk wrote:
> I am being offered some sealed Sun memory modules, PN 501-3050. These are
> 512MB compatible with:
>
> * Compatible with Sun Blade 1000 with 600MHz CPU, 1000 with 750MHz
> CPU, 1000 with 900MHz CPU, Blade 1000 Workstation, 2000 Blade 2000 with
> 900MHz CPU, Blade 2000 with 1.015GHz CPU, Blade 2000 with 1.05GHz CPU,
Blade
> 2000 with 1.2GHz CPU, Blade 2000 Workstation, Fire 12K with CPU 900MHz,
Fire
> 12K with CPU 1.05GHz, Fire 12K with CPU 1.2GHz, Fire 15K with CPU 900MHz,
> Fire 15K with CPU 1.05GHz, Fire 15K with CPU 1.2GHz, Sun Fire E20K, Fire
> E25K, 280R (A35), 3800, 4800 (750MHz), 4810, 6800, Netra 20 (N28).
>
> Apparently they must be installed in sets of 4. Is anyone interested in
> these?

Hey Cindy;

I have some Sun gear at home that I should probably have some spares for - 
what're they thinking they'd like for these?

And thank you;

  - JP


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Re: Sealed Sun memory modules

[JP Hindin via cctalk]

On Fri, 9 Aug 2019, Electronics Plus via cctalk wrote:

I am being offered some sealed Sun memory modules, PN 501-3050. These are
512MB compatible with:

*   Compatible with Sun Blade 1000 with 600MHz CPU, 1000 with 750MHz
CPU, 1000 with 900MHz CPU, Blade 1000 Workstation, 2000 Blade 2000 with
900MHz CPU, Blade 2000 with 1.015GHz CPU, Blade 2000 with 1.05GHz CPU, Blade
2000 with 1.2GHz CPU, Blade 2000 Workstation, Fire 12K with CPU 900MHz, Fire
12K with CPU 1.05GHz, Fire 12K with CPU 1.2GHz, Fire 15K with CPU 900MHz,
Fire 15K with CPU 1.05GHz, Fire 15K with CPU 1.2GHz, Sun Fire E20K, Fire
E25K, 280R (A35), 3800, 4800 (750MHz), 4810, 6800, Netra 20 (N28).

Apparently they must be installed in sets of 4. Is anyone interested in
these?


Hey Cindy;

I have some Sun gear at home that I should probably have some spares for - 
what're they thinking they'd like for these?


And thank you;

 - JP

Sealed Sun memory modules

[Electronics Plus via cctalk]

I am being offered some sealed Sun memory modules, PN 501-3050. These are
512MB compatible with:

*   Compatible with Sun Blade 1000 with 600MHz CPU, 1000 with 750MHz
CPU, 1000 with 900MHz CPU, Blade 1000 Workstation, 2000 Blade 2000 with
900MHz CPU, Blade 2000 with 1.015GHz CPU, Blade 2000 with 1.05GHz CPU, Blade
2000 with 1.2GHz CPU, Blade 2000 Workstation, Fire 12K with CPU 900MHz, Fire
12K with CPU 1.05GHz, Fire 12K with CPU 1.2GHz, Fire 15K with CPU 900MHz,
Fire 15K with CPU 1.05GHz, Fire 15K with CPU 1.2GHz, Sun Fire E20K, Fire
E25K, 280R (A35), 3800, 4800 (750MHz), 4810, 6800, Netra 20 (N28).

Apparently they must be installed in sets of 4. Is anyone interested in
these?

 

Cindy Croxton

Electronics Plus

1613 Water Street

Kerrville, TX 78028

830-370-3239 cell

sa...@elecplus.com

 



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Re: I'm sharing a toy

[Paul Koning via cctalk]

> On Aug 9, 2019, at 2:52 AM, Boris Gimbarzevsky via cctalk 
>  wrote:
> 
> Thanks for putting it up.  First time I've logged onto old Unix in decades 
> (should try getting my copy of V6 up on simh).
> Have a couple of RasberryPi's kicking around that just fired up once to play 
> with.  Only part that simulation doesn't let you do is to connect up all 
> sorts of lab hardware to A/D's and D/A's.  Have lots of PDP-11 code that 
> wrote in 1980's that can't use as no-one has written additions to PDP-11 
> emulators which will make one think one is dealing with 80's era data 
> acquisition hardware and digital I/O boards which are far faster on modern 
> microprocessors than there were then.

I don't think writing SIMH device emulators for things like the DEC Unibus D/A 
and A/D devices, or the DR11-A, would be at all hard.

Neat idea, actually.  It would let me run the "LABBASIC" I created as an honors 
project in college in 1974 -- a version of RT11 BASIC with added statements to 
drive those data acquisition devices and the KW-11/P programmable clock.

paul

Re: I'm sharing a toy

[Adam Thornton via cctalk]

> On Aug 8, 2019, at 11:52 PM, Boris Gimbarzevsky  
> wrote:
> 
> Thanks for putting it up.  First time I've logged onto old Unix in decades 
> (should try getting my copy of V6 up on simh).
> Have a couple of RasberryPi's kicking around that just fired up once to play 
> with.  Only part that simulation doesn't let you do is to connect up all 
> sorts of lab hardware to A/D's and D/A's.  Have lots of PDP-11 code that 
> wrote in 1980's that can't use as no-one has written additions to PDP-11 
> emulators which will make one think one is dealing with 80's era data 
> acquisition hardware and digital I/O boards which are far faster on modern 
> microprocessors than there were then.

Well, you say that, but…..

I just ordered https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/pidp-11 
 , and it contains a 
prototyping area now so you can do stuff like 
https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/pidp-11-temp-barometer-hack 
 .  
But, I mean…that’s a modern micro that looks to the PiDP-11 as if it were a 
Unibus peripheral, so it’s a decent model for what you want to do.

And then there’s the Unibone….http://retrocmp.com/projects/unibone 
 if you want to drop some modern stuff 
into a real Unibus backplane.

Adam

Re: I'm sharing a toy

[Boris Gimbarzevsky via cctalk]

Thanks for putting it up.  First time I've logged 
onto old Unix in decades (should try getting my copy of V6 up on simh).
Have a couple of RasberryPi's kicking around that 
just fired up once to play with.  Only part that 
simulation doesn't let you do is to connect up 
all sorts of lab hardware to A/D's and 
D/A's.  Have lots of PDP-11 code that wrote in 
1980's that can't use as no-one has written 
additions to PDP-11 emulators which will make one 
think one is dealing with 80's era data 
acquisition hardware and digital I/O boards which 
are far faster on modern microprocessors than there were then.



https://mvsevm.fsf.net

Currently, the TOPS-10 guest account (42,42) and 
the Unix v7 account dmr have no passwords.


Please treat the dmr account respectfully.

I will get to account requests…eventually, 
probably.  TImeliness  is not guaranteed.  All 
systems are hosted on Raspberry Pis (the 36-bit 
ones on a Pi 3B+ and the 16-bit and 32-bit ones 
on a Pi 2B+) on Debian Buster.  Absolutely no 
guarantee of availability or usability is made.


Adam