Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

> On Apr 19, 2016, at 10:53 AM, Swift Griggs wrote: > > > Well, after discussing all things that can go wrong with a floppy disk to > corrupt or destroy it, it makes me wonder about another vintage media > format: the cart. You mean a ROM cartridge as opposed to a

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

On 2016-Apr-19, at 8:13 AM, Paul Koning wrote: > >> On Apr 19, 2016, at 10:53 AM, Swift Griggs wrote: >> >> >> Well, after discussing all things that can go wrong with a floppy disk to >> corrupt or destroy it, it makes me wonder about another vintage media >> format:

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, et...@757.org wrote: > > Glad it was able to be saved, sounds like a neat system, do you have any > > specs on it, that you can share? > Warms my SGI fanboy side to see these systems being saved! I agree. I'm just glad I don't have to find the space or lift the damn thing

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

{Multiple replies packaged together to minimize list traffic...} > From: Jon Elson > If you open one of these up, make sure to oil the cotton packing to > supply oil gradually to the bearing. I don't see any sign of a cotton packing around it (but maybe it's just sealed away where

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

I agree. I'm just glad I don't have to find the space or lift the damn thing :-) Compared to IBM, Sun big iron, Cray big iron the SGI Origin 2000/Onyx2 and Challenge XL/Onyx are very friendly fridge sized computers! They roll easy, they're lightweight and not overbuilt. They use a simple 220v

flea markets (was Re: Vintage Computer Festivals???)

On 4/18/16 4:36 PM, Fred Cisin wrote: > John Craig experienced a process that a friend called "the inevitable decline > of flea-markets". two things have killed the electronics ones off in the Bay Area eBay and the nail in the coffin the state of California requiring a sales number if you

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, et...@757.org wrote: > > Why does blowing on them help? (mosture? cleaning action?) > The moisure makes the connection work better or something, so that is > where it comes from. Cleaning the contacts is best, and if it's a NES you > can replace the "finger module" or the

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 8:39 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote: > What's the going price per gallon of sperm whale oil? > Quite a bit more than Braycote, I'm sure. And it would be nowhere near as good. But if I were restoring a $25,000 machine, spending $250 on 10 grams of Braycote

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

They're something splendidly entertaining about a big honkin' graphical workstation that you can roll up to and poke around the GUI on. Only the Onyx series has graphics :-) Most of ours at NASA were headless with nothing but a serial console, and lots of CPUs. They crunched satellite data

Re: Weird c. 1982 Onyx systems 68010-based UNIX minicomputer

On Mon, 18 Apr 2016, Ian Finder wrote: I don't really need anything- the machine was new in box and works correctly. It has media- but I'd love more context if people know it. Sure, it's a very boring generic M68K box, but I can barely find any record of it existing. While (probably) not

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 7:45 PM, drlegendre . wrote: > Forgive my ignorance.. > > What could possibly justify a cost of $25,000 (US) for a liter of this > Braycote material? Of course, I'm extrapolating - $25/gm, assuming > 1000gm/l. > First, I'm not trying to justify it

RE: flea markets (was Re: Vintage Computer Festivals???)

> two things have killed the electronics ones off in the Bay Area > > eBay Well, eBay is killing itself slowly. Every year they make more and more onerous and anti-buyer rules and policies. That coupled with the fact that shipping rates are becoming unbearable is going to end eBay in electronics

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

On Apr 18, 2016, at 11:15 PM, drlegendre . wrote: > Unless the Braycote products are directly interchangeable with Sperm Whale > oil, how is your comparison even remotely relevant? > > They are rendered from entirely different sources. Whale oil is a natural, >

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

Very cool, Glad it was able to be saved, sounds like a neat system, do you have any specs on it, that you can share? On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 1:07 PM, Ian Finder wrote: > Thank you all, and thanks Jay West for this wonderful venue. > > Less than 24 hours later the machine

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

Unless the Braycote products are directly interchangeable with Sperm Whale oil, how is your comparison even remotely relevant? Well whale oil is merely an example illustrating that there are other expensive and/or hard to come by lubricants.

ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

Well, after discussing all things that can go wrong with a floppy disk to corrupt or destroy it, it makes me wonder about another vintage media format: the cart. How long will they last? Why does blowing on them help? (mosture? cleaning action?) Are some better than others in terms of

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, et...@757.org wrote: They're something splendidly entertaining about a big honkin' graphical workstation that you can roll up to and poke around the GUI on. Only the Onyx series has graphics :-) Most of ours at NASA were headless with nothing but a serial console, and

Re: Vintage Computer Festivals???

Sellam why has he retired?? I didn't say that. He simply stepped back from owning/managing VCF. He'll still be at VCF West and we invited him to be an exhibit judge. exhibit judge? We haven't had judging at VCF East, but Sellam always did at West and we'll probably continue it this

Re: Vintage Computer Festivals???

Sellam why has he retired?? I didn't say that. He simply stepped back from owning/managing VCF. He'll still be at VCF West and we invited him to be an exhibit judge.

ISO: VAX 11/750 RDM (L0006) and/or ECKAL diagnostic listing

Hey all -- Finally got the power supplies in my 11/750 humming again (after numerous failures) and generally things are looking good -- it passes microverify (I get the '%%' output at power-up) and most diagnostics (that I can run without an RDM) are passing. The ECKAL (Cache/TB) Diagnostic is

Re: Vintage Computer Festivals???

On Tue, Apr 19, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Evan Koblentz wrote: > Sellam why has he retired?? >> > > I didn't say that. He simply stepped back from owning/managing VCF. He'll > still be at VCF West and we invited him to be an exhibit judge. > exhibit judge? -- @ BillDeg: Web:

Re: Manual for DEC 433au

On 2016-04-16 18:07, Glen Slick wrote: On Sat, Apr 16, 2016 at 5:44 AM, Robert Jarratt wrote: Anyone got the following document: DIGITAL Personal Workstation System Reference and Maintenance Guide Only thing I managed to find so far:

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

Very cool, Glad it was able to be saved, sounds like a neat system, do you have any specs on it, that you can share? Warms my SGI fanboy side to see these systems being saved! -- Ethan O'Toole

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

How long will they last? Probably a long time, but dump them all anyways! You never know! Why does blowing on them help? (mosture? cleaning action?) The moisure makes the connection work better or something, so that is where it comes from. Cleaning the contacts is best, and if it's a NES

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

On 04/19/2016 08:52 AM, Noel Chiappa wrote: > Thanks very much for taking the time to do that; my only concern is > to wonder if their experience is applicable, since these things are > turning an order of magnitude faster than old household fans. Is it really that extreme? Most US AC induction

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

I love the Onyx rack. Ethan wrote: > I think they're the best of the newer large computers They're something splendidly entertaining about a big honkin' graphical workstation that you can roll up to and poke around the GUI on. I have one of the full rack 3-phase ones in Seattle which, like the

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, Paul Koning wrote: > You mean a ROM cartridge as opposed to a magnetic tape cartridge, right? > ("Cart" is also broadcast radio slang for magnetic tape cartridges, > vaguely like an 8-track tape in appearance.) ROM carts, yes. I know what you mean about the old radio

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

On 04/19/2016 08:13 AM, Paul Koning wrote: > >> On Apr 19, 2016, at 10:53 AM, Swift Griggs >> wrote: >> >> >> Well, after discussing all things that can go wrong with a floppy >> disk to corrupt or destroy it, it makes me wonder about another >> vintage media format: the

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

On Apr 19, 2016, at 10:52 AM, Noel Chiappa wrote: > Speaking of orientation, though: these fans, like most PDP-11 fans, send air > downwards. I was thinking of flipping them, to send the heat upwards (its > 'natural' direction), but after pondering a bit, I'm not sure

Imlac PDS-1 source code

While arranging some shelves, I came across an Imlac PDS-1 printset that I rescued from somewhere (I don't remember where) What I didn't realize was that in the back of the printset was some assembler source code for David Bloodgood's "Imlac terminal emulator program". Photos here:

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, Andrew Burton wrote: > Sorry, you are wrong. I own three SNES games that use the SFX chip: > Starfox, Stunt Race FX and Yoshi's Island (SFX chip used for sprite > rotation and 3D objects, such as doors that fell towards the screen). Cool. I thought there were only two as

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, Ian Finder wrote: > They're something splendidly entertaining about a big honkin' graphical > workstation that you can roll up to and poke around the GUI on. No doubt. The main thing to me is that they aren't "boring" business machines. They were made to do fun creative

Compugraphic MCS5 typesetter monitor needed

I'm seeking the monitor for a Compugraphic MCS5 typesetter. If anyone has one of these and is willing to let it go, please contact me directly. Thanks! -- Sellam Abraham VintageTech

Re: Imlac PDS-1 source code

On Tue, Apr 19, 2016 at 12:25 PM, Seth Morabito wrote: > While arranging some shelves, I came across an Imlac PDS-1 printset > that I rescued from somewhere (I don't remember where) > > What I didn't realize was that in the back of the printset was some > assembler source code

strangest systems I've sent email from

Here's my top 3 weirdest devices I've ever sent email through, just for fun: 1. The AlphaSmart "Dana" which was a strange laptop-like device which ran PalmOS. The email client was Eudora for PalmOS. 2. Sony eVilla BeIA appliance using some kind of (crappy) built-in mail application. 3.

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

- Original Message - From: "Swift Griggs" To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2016 3:53 PM Subject: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits > Seen the crazy prices for rare Neo Geo carts?

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

- Original Message - From: To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2016 4:43 PM Subject: Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits > > Remember the ones like Starfox for the SNES that had coprocessors

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

The original Onyx ('Terminator') generally only had 3-phase if it had the VME backplane package added. Mine came from Boeing and had the VME cage (and a bunch of custom hardware of which I have no real understanding what it interfaces to), but it runs just fine on single-phase. Ah okay. For

Re: Keys - Non-Ace was RE: ACE Key codes (xx2247 etc.)

> On Apr 19, 2016, at 4:15 PM, Mike Stein wrote: > > I finally found my micrometer; is there a cross-reference of pin # vs. depth > or just a list of standard depths for ACE keys somewhere? Look here, http://www.hpcworld.com/mobile/km/pocketcutup/index.html, click "See

Re: Keys - Non-Ace was RE: ACE Key codes (xx2247 etc.)

I finally found my micrometer; is there a cross-reference of pin # vs. depth or just a list of standard depths for ACE keys somewhere? m

RE: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

I heard someone comment that there is some issue with game boy cartridges now and was recommending not buying those anymore. I'm not sure of what the details were.. maybe a battery issue? I think if they're bad they won't boot.  Anyone know the real details? 

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

Hey, I'm always ready to learn.. One 'trick' I was taught, was to put a quart of ATF into an auto engine that was down a quart of oil, and ready for a change. Claim was that it had superior detergent / surfactant qualities, and would clean things up for the change. You were supposed to run it for

Re: Keys - Non-Ace was RE: ACE Key codes (xx2247 etc.)

- Original Message - From: "Paul Koning" To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts" Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2016 4:24 PM Subject: Re: Keys - Non-Ace was RE: ACE Key codes (xx2247 etc.) > On Apr 19, 2016, at 4:15 PM, Mike Stein

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

On 04/19/2016 08:29 PM, drlegendre . wrote: ATF.. ATF?!?!? Heresy, heresy!! Not. I suppose it depends what we're talking about, Type F or the various grades of Dexron. But that's what I have in my pump oiler can. Per my understanding, it's essentially a highly-refined 20W oil with a series of

Re: Keys - Non-Ace was RE: ACE Key codes (xx2247 etc.)

> It's a little costly for the amount of need that we have. What do > you think of the Klom imitation of it? I've got one of the Klom imitations coming. Report to follow... If it helps anyone, I can produce Chicago double-sided keys from code. This sort of thing:

Re: Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

On 04/19/2016 11:22 AM, Ian Finder wrote: If we're rambling about SGIs now, my all time fav. is the Indigo 2 R1000 Max Impact. You see one, and it looks normal enough, but when you pop that cover- there is so much logic packed into that box! It's one of the densest machines I've ever

Re: Keys - Non-Ace was RE: ACE Key codes (xx2247 etc.)

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, Mike Stein wrote: I finally found my micrometer; is there a cross-reference of pin # vs. depth or just a list of standard depths for ACE keys somewhere? Yes. Called a "depth and space reference" (different for manufacturer, and sometimes blank) 5 years ago, we had a

Re: Keys - Non-Ace was RE: ACE Key codes (xx2247 etc.)

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, Fred Cisin wrote: On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, Paul Koning wrote: Look here, http://www.hpcworld.com/mobile/km/pocketcutup/index.html, click "See the manual", it's at the bottom of the first page. Looks like a neat little machine. I don't have one (or any knowledge of these

Re: Keys - Non-Ace was RE: ACE Key codes (xx2247 etc.)

On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, Paul Koning wrote: Look here, http://www.hpcworld.com/mobile/km/pocketcutup/index.html, click "See the manual", it's at the bottom of the first page. Looks like a neat little machine. I don't have one (or any knowledge of these devices), but if I needed keys like that I'd

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

Did not read the whole thread,  ill chime in with a vote for a tiny drill, an insulin syringe and ATF.  done it since the 70s on muffin fans, 10 previous years on bronze bushed blower motors. Original message From: Chuck Guzis Date: 04/18/2016 22:22

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

ATF.. ATF?!?!? Heresy, heresy!! Not. I suppose it depends what we're talking about, Type F or the various grades of Dexron. But that's what I have in my pump oiler can. Per my understanding, it's essentially a highly-refined 20W oil with a series of additives that allow it to serve double-duty

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

On Tue, Apr 19, 2016 at 11:41 AM, Swift Griggs wrote: > > On Tue, 19 Apr 2016, et...@757.org wrote: > > > Why does blowing on them help? (mosture? cleaning action?) > > The moisure makes the connection work better or something, so that is > > where it comes from. Cleaning

Re: ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

On Tue, Apr 19, 2016 at 9:53 AM, Swift Griggs wrote: > > I have some 90's consoles in my collection and I fondly remember a few > systems that took carts that family and friends owned back in the 80's and > 90's. I thought the Colecovision Adam was awesome. My cousin had

Re: Weird c. 1982 Onyx systems 68010-based UNIX minicomputer

On Apr 18, 2016, at 10:05 PM, Ian Finder wrote: > https://www.instagram.com/p/6GLEvutS_e/?taken-by=tr1nitr0n Are those a 68450 DMAC and 68451 MMU on the board next to the 68010? -- Chris

Re: Fan bearing lubricant was Re: WD-40 (again)

> On Apr 18, 2016, at 10:11 PM, Eric Korpela wrote: > >> On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 2:53 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote: >> >> I did some research among the antique fan collectors on the web. >> Here's what's been recommended, in no particular order: > > And