RE: DEC 3000/600 Alphaserver problems

[Rob Jarratt via cctalk]

> 
> The hot tweezer sounds very nice but I think I'll stick with what I have
for
> now.  These machines have other problems and won't ever do anything
> useful unless I get the cache issues sorted out so I don't necessarily
want to
> invest in new tools for them to end up not getting them repaired.
> 

I love an excuse to buy a tool. I think *good* tools are always a worthwhile
investment. After a buying a tool that I think I will only use once, I tend
to find other uses for it over time. Maybe you will find yourself needing to
replace an SMT component on another machine in the future?


> Many thanks.
> 
> Regards,
> Peter.
> 
> >
> > Richard Schauer
> > KF9VP
> >

Re: IBM Model C typewriter

[Chuck Guzis via cctalk]

On 1/12/22 20:16, Grant Taylor via cctalk wrote:

> That's a mailing list, not a newsgroup.
> 
> But it is likely to be more active than the free.typewriters newsgroup.

Picky, picky picky...

The old Golf Ball Typewriter Shop list is long gone, and this was
suggested as an alternative.

--Chuck

Re: IBM Model C typewriter

[Grant Taylor via cctalk]

On 1/12/22 9:06 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:

Indeed there are.


I only found one Usenet newsgroup free.typewriters and it only had one 
message int he last 2+ years.  So not exactly what I would call active.



Here's one that I'm subscribed to:

https://groups.io/g/TYPEWRITERS


That's a mailing list, not a newsgroup.

But it is likely to be more active than the free.typewriters newsgroup.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

Re: IBM Model C typewriter

[Chuck Guzis via cctalk]

On 1/12/22 19:25, Grant Taylor via cctalk wrote:
> On 1/12/22 5:49 PM, Van Snyder via cctalk wrote:
>> I have an old IBM Model C typewriter. I can't bear to throw it away,
>> even though it doesn't work well. The carriage doesn't advance, and the
>> A key doesn't work. Do you know how to tune it up?
>>
>> If you want it, it's yours for the price of shipping. I'll probably
>> take it to UPS and ask them to pack it.
> 
> I'm sure that there are typewriter collectors that would be interested.
> But I have no idea how to connect with them.
> 
> Aside:  I wonder if there are any newsgroups.
> 
Indeed there are.  Here's one that I'm subscribed to:

https://groups.io/g/TYPEWRITERS

--Chuck

Re: IBM Model C typewriter

[Bill Degnan via cctalk]

Pam Rogow
WPM Typewriter Shop
6819 Greene St
Philadelphia 19119
267-974-0792
www.wpmTypewriterShop.com

On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 10:26 PM Grant Taylor via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> On 1/12/22 5:49 PM, Van Snyder via cctalk wrote:
> > I have an old IBM Model C typewriter. I can't bear to throw it away,
> > even though it doesn't work well. The carriage doesn't advance, and the
> > A key doesn't work. Do you know how to tune it up?
> >
> > If you want it, it's yours for the price of shipping. I'll probably
> > take it to UPS and ask them to pack it.
>
> I'm sure that there are typewriter collectors that would be interested.
> But I have no idea how to connect with them.
>
> Aside:  I wonder if there are any newsgroups.
>
> I wonder if Curious Mark or Co. would be interested in it.  It seems to
> be similar to mechanical Teletypes and adding machines.  Who knows,
> maybe we'd see a restoration video about it.
>
>
>
> --
> Grant. . . .
> unix || die
>

Re: IBM Model C typewriter

[Grant Taylor via cctalk]

On 1/12/22 5:49 PM, Van Snyder via cctalk wrote:

I have an old IBM Model C typewriter. I can't bear to throw it away,
even though it doesn't work well. The carriage doesn't advance, and the
A key doesn't work. Do you know how to tune it up?

If you want it, it's yours for the price of shipping. I'll probably
take it to UPS and ask them to pack it.


I'm sure that there are typewriter collectors that would be interested. 
But I have no idea how to connect with them.


Aside:  I wonder if there are any newsgroups.

I wonder if Curious Mark or Co. would be interested in it.  It seems to 
be similar to mechanical Teletypes and adding machines.  Who knows, 
maybe we'd see a restoration video about it.




--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

Re: The Portable C Compiler (pcc)

[Tom Hunter via cctalk]

Anders Magnusson clarified that the DG Nova architecture support has been
added by him.
It was not part of the original.
It is also a work in progress so not quite usable as of now.
I will try to make it work for simple single file C programs.

Tom

On Mon, Jan 10, 2022 at 5:59 PM Tom Hunter  wrote:

> I have managed to build the latest version of Anders Magnusson's PCC.
> It won't build out of the box and requires code and Makefile changes.
> It emits valid looking Nova assembly.
> Unfortunately it needs a machine support library which is not included to
> do function prolog, epilog, shift operators, multiplications, conversions,
> some of the assignments and indirections.
> There is an old README which provides sample implementations which don't
> match the code generated by the compiler.
> With some reasonable effort I think the bare-bones Nova support could be
> made to work properly (without any target OS support).
> It would be nice to be able to do some low-level work in C rather than
> doing everything in assembly.
>
> Tom
>
> On Mon, Jan 10, 2022 at 4:34 PM Tom Hunter  wrote:
>
>> I have tried to get in touch with Anders Magnusson, but got no reply yet.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 9, 2022 at 11:36 PM Will Cooke via cctalk <
>> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> > On 01/09/2022 9:10 AM Tom Hunter via cctalk 
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > The original "Portable C Compiler" by S. C. Johnson (also known as
>>> "pcc")
>>> > had functional support for the Data General Nova. Could somebody please
>>> > point me to this original implementation?
>>> >
>>> > There is a modern C99 version of this compiler maintained by Anders
>>> > Magnusson at: http://pcc.ludd.ltu.se/
>>> >
>>> > Unfortunately in this version the Nova architecture is no longer
>>> supported
>>> > and won't build correctly although associated files are still in the
>>> source
>>> > hierarchy.
>>> >
>>> > I am looking for the original implementation - not any recent work.
>>> >
>>> > Thanks
>>> > Tom
>>>
>>> Have you contacted the author and asked him?  I suspect he has the
>>> original that he worked from.
>>>
>>> Will
>>>
>>

IBM Model C typewriter

[Van Snyder via cctalk]

I have an old IBM Model C typewriter. I can't bear to throw it away,
even though it doesn't work well. The carriage doesn't advance, and the
A key doesn't work. Do you know how to tune it up?

If you want it, it's yours for the price of shipping. I'll probably
take it to UPS and ask them to pack it.

It will fit in a 24" x 18" x 12" box. Gross shipped weight about 40
lbs.

Local pickup free. La Crescenta, CA

Re: DEC 3000/600 Alphaserver problems

[Peter Coghlan via cctalk]

On Wed, 12 Jan 2022 at 17:28:33 -0600 Richard Schauer via cctalk wrote:

On Wed, 12 Jan 2022, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote:

They do have spikes of solder sticking out from the positive ends


Yes, those are tantalum caps.  The "hat" as I've always called it marks 
the positive end, and it should be part of the case, so it won't melt away 
in solder.  These things are a bit obsolete and aren't particularly 
common, but not impossible either.  I use a 100uF 0805-size (2mm x 1.25mm) 
one of these on a weird board we build for a customer at work; getting 
that much capacitance in a part that small always amazes me!




This stuff dates from around 1994 I think. My 47uF component is about
6 or 7mm x 3 or 4mm.  Maybe a problem with squeezing a lot of capacitance
in could be that it wants to pop out again!



I hit Ebay to see if I could find something vaguely like what you have. 
The first listings that looked plausible were 194453105893 and 
203613355685.  I'm not saying they're the right size, or voltage, or 
anything like it, but it'll get you a manufacturer's part number that you 
can search for and find like ones.  His price seems high too.  You could, 
of course, sub an ordinary tantalum.




I probably need to peer closely at all of mine and figure out how many I
need.  There are about 50 of these things in each of three machines :-(




I managed to desolder one of them from the middle of the picture using
two soldering irons.  I am not very good at this surface mount stuff :-(
It came out ok though.  I must have got lucky and picked a good one
because it measured 47uF on the capacitance range on my multimeter.


Two irons is a perfectly valid method of removing SMT parts, if you're 
quick!  Ever heard of a hot tweezer?  It's two little irons, hinged at the 
top.  I have a variety of tips for mine and prefer it to hot air for most 
small things.  (Well, for routine work I usually have a chisel tip on my 
iron, and can get across both ends of something up to 0805-size and sweep 
it off the board.  1206 and bigger, you have to get creative, or use the 
hot tweezer.)




The hot tweezer sounds very nice but I think I'll stick with what I have
for now.  These machines have other problems and won't ever do anything
useful unless I get the cache issues sorted out so I don't necessarily
want to invest in new tools for them to end up not getting them repaired.

Many thanks.

Regards,
Peter.



Richard Schauer
KF9VP

Re: DEC 3000/600 Alphaserver problems

[Maciej W. Rozycki via cctalk]

On Wed, 12 Jan 2022, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:

> > Thanks Jon.
> > 
> > Here is a badly focused picture of the suspect components:
> > 
> > http://www.beyondthepale.ie/cctech/p1010198.jpg
> 
> WOW, I don't know what those are!  They look like big ceramic caps to me, but
> if they don't have any polarity marking, then they can't be Tantalum.  Big
> multilayer ceramics are prone to cracking due to board flexing, and that can
> cause catastrophic failure, too.

 They do look like tantalum caps to me, e.g.:



The pointed end indicates polarity.

  Maciej

Re: DEC 3000/600 Alphaserver problems

[Peter Coghlan via cctalk]

On Wed, 12 Jan 2022 at 19:30:58 +, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote:

On Wed, 12 Jan 2022 at 11:02:47 -0600 Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:

On 1/11/22 5:17 PM, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote:


Thanks Jon.

Here is a badly focused picture of the suspect components:

http://www.beyondthepale.ie/cctech/p1010198.jpg


WOW, I don't know what those are!  They look like big 
ceramic caps to me, but if they don't have any polarity 
marking, then they can't be Tantalum.  Big multilayer 
ceramics are prone to cracking due to board flexing, and 
that can cause catastrophic failure, too.




Thanks again Jon.

They do have spikes of solder sticking out from the positive ends
which can be seen in the picture.  There are no circuit references on
the I/O board where the picture was taken.  However there are markings
on the system board including little + signs at the same ends as the
solder spikes on similar capacitors on that board.

I managed to desolder one of them from the middle of the picture using
two soldering irons.  I am not very good at this surface mount stuff :-(
It came out ok though.  I must have got lucky and picked a good one
because it measured 47uF on the capacitance range on my multimeter.



I looked around some more with the magnifying glass and found the tiniest
crack in the body of one of the smaller orange components, the vertical one
in the middle of the picture.  I desoldered it and measured it.  It was
9.73uF and had 35.7 kOhms leakage (the 47uF one had no measurable leakage).
It is not one of the three I suspected initially and it has 12V across it
in operation, possibly associated with the nearby AUI connector.  I presume
it is a 10uF unit and despite having released some magic smoke, it seems to
be continuing to function reasonably well.

I guess failure of these sort of capacitors is probably not anything to do
with the cache failures I am getting then.

Time to get back to the power supply I think.

Regards,
Peter.





Jon

Re: DEC 3000/600 Alphaserver problems

[Richard Schauer via cctalk]

On Wed, 12 Jan 2022, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote:

They do have spikes of solder sticking out from the positive ends


Yes, those are tantalum caps.  The "hat" as I've always called it marks 
the positive end, and it should be part of the case, so it won't melt away 
in solder.  These things are a bit obsolete and aren't particularly 
common, but not impossible either.  I use a 100uF 0805-size (2mm x 1.25mm) 
one of these on a weird board we build for a customer at work; getting 
that much capacitance in a part that small always amazes me!


I hit Ebay to see if I could find something vaguely like what you have. 
The first listings that looked plausible were 194453105893 and 
203613355685.  I'm not saying they're the right size, or voltage, or 
anything like it, but it'll get you a manufacturer's part number that you 
can search for and find like ones.  His price seems high too.  You could, 
of course, sub an ordinary tantalum.



I managed to desolder one of them from the middle of the picture using
two soldering irons.  I am not very good at this surface mount stuff :-(
It came out ok though.  I must have got lucky and picked a good one
because it measured 47uF on the capacitance range on my multimeter.


Two irons is a perfectly valid method of removing SMT parts, if you're 
quick!  Ever heard of a hot tweezer?  It's two little irons, hinged at the 
top.  I have a variety of tips for mine and prefer it to hot air for most 
small things.  (Well, for routine work I usually have a chisel tip on my 
iron, and can get across both ends of something up to 0805-size and sweep 
it off the board.  1206 and bigger, you have to get creative, or use the 
hot tweezer.)


Richard Schauer
KF9VP

Re: 8" Floppy Drives needed

[Mike Katz via cctalk]

I am looking into the fluxengine system and a Raspberry Pi.

On 1/12/2022 3:28 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:

On 1/12/22 12:23, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:


Given how arcane the RX02 format is (sector _headers_ are written in single
density; sector _data_ is written in double) I'd be pretty surprised if
anything except an RX02 can do it.

True that--however, a flux transition-type controller, such as the
Catweasel or Kyroflux can easily duplicate a blank RX02, funny DEC MFM
floppy.  Of course, the same can also duplicate a blank RX01 FM disk.

If you're not PC-centric, that may be the best solution for your purposes.

--Chuck

Re: 8" Floppy Drives needed

[Chuck Guzis via cctalk]

On 1/12/22 12:23, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:

> Given how arcane the RX02 format is (sector _headers_ are written in single
> density; sector _data_ is written in double) I'd be pretty surprised if
> anything except an RX02 can do it.

True that--however, a flux transition-type controller, such as the
Catweasel or Kyroflux can easily duplicate a blank RX02, funny DEC MFM
floppy.  Of course, the same can also duplicate a blank RX01 FM disk.

If you're not PC-centric, that may be the best solution for your purposes.

--Chuck

Re: 8" Floppy Drives needed

[Mike Katz via cctalk]

A completely software driven controller could handle reading an RX02 
disk it if it knows to expect it.


There is a switch on the logic board inside the RX02 to indicate whether 
the drive should be RX01 or RX02 compatible


On 1/12/2022 2:23 PM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:

 > On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 12:16 PM Mike Katz wrote:

 > I am looking to make a RX01 (and hopefully RX02) disk formatter

Something that can format floppies for the RX01 can effectively format RX02 
floppies, too.

An RX02 drive can convert RX01-formatted floppies to RX02-formatted floppies.

Given how arcane the RX02 format is (sector _headers_ are written in single
density; sector _data_ is written in double) I'd be pretty surprised if
anything except an RX02 can do it.

Noel

Re: 8" Floppy Drives needed

[Noel Chiappa via cctalk]

> On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 12:16 PM Mike Katz wrote:

> I am looking to make a RX01 (and hopefully RX02) disk formatter

Something that can format floppies for the RX01 can effectively format RX02 
floppies, too.

An RX02 drive can convert RX01-formatted floppies to RX02-formatted floppies.

Given how arcane the RX02 format is (sector _headers_ are written in single
density; sector _data_ is written in double) I'd be pretty surprised if
anything except an RX02 can do it.

Noel

Re: DEC 3000/600 Alphaserver problems

[Peter Coghlan via cctalk]

On Wed, 12 Jan 2022 at 11:02:47 -0600 Jon Elson wrote:

On 1/11/22 5:17 PM, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote:


Thanks Jon.

Here is a badly focused picture of the suspect components:

http://www.beyondthepale.ie/cctech/p1010198.jpg


WOW, I don't know what those are!  They look like big 
ceramic caps to me, but if they don't have any polarity 
marking, then they can't be Tantalum.  Big multilayer 
ceramics are prone to cracking due to board flexing, and 
that can cause catastrophic failure, too.




Thanks again Jon.

They do have spikes of solder sticking out from the positive ends
which can be seen in the picture.  There are no circuit references on
the I/O board where the picture was taken.  However there are markings
on the system board including little + signs at the same ends as the
solder spikes on similar capacitors on that board.

I tried desoldering one from the middle of the picture using two
soldering irons - I'm not very good at this surface mounted stuff :-(
It came out ok though. I must have got lucky and picked a good one
because it measured 47uF in the capacitance section on my multimeter.

Regards,
Peter.

Re: DEC 3000/600 Alphaserver problems

[Peter Coghlan via cctalk]

On Wed, 12 Jan 2022 at 11:02:47 -0600 Jon Elson via cctalk wrote:

On 1/11/22 5:17 PM, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote:


Thanks Jon.

Here is a badly focused picture of the suspect components:

http://www.beyondthepale.ie/cctech/p1010198.jpg


WOW, I don't know what those are!  They look like big 
ceramic caps to me, but if they don't have any polarity 
marking, then they can't be Tantalum.  Big multilayer 
ceramics are prone to cracking due to board flexing, and 
that can cause catastrophic failure, too.




Thanks again Jon.

They do have spikes of solder sticking out from the positive ends
which can be seen in the picture.  There are no circuit references on
the I/O board where the picture was taken.  However there are markings
on the system board including little + signs at the same ends as the
solder spikes on similar capacitors on that board.

I managed to desolder one of them from the middle of the picture using
two soldering irons.  I am not very good at this surface mount stuff :-(
It came out ok though.  I must have got lucky and picked a good one
because it measured 47uF on the capacitance range on my multimeter.

Regards,
Peter.



Jon

Re: 8" Floppy Drives needed

[Ethan Dicks via cctalk]

On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 12:16 PM Mike Katz via cctalk
 wrote:
> I am looking for one or two 8" floppy drives, preferably Shugart
> compatible at a reasonable price.
>
> Does anyone have anything like this laying around, unused, in their
> basement, storage locker, garage, etc.
>
> I am looking to make a RX01 (and hopefully RX02) disk formatter and copier.

Mike gets first choice, of course, but I'm also looking for something
similar, especially since doubled-sided half-height drives (TM848) can
become media strippers (two ceramic heads vs one head and a pad).  I
just need to read single-sided DEC media, so that's fine.  I should
have all the cables and adapters and such squared away shortly, and I
already have a 486 I'm using with ImageDisk, TeleDisk, and PUTR with
5.25" media.  8" is next, especially a large carton of RX01 media.

RX02 might have to wait on getting/finding an RXV21 and restoring an
RX02 because the format is oddball.  I think I have an RXV21 somewhere
but I wouldn't have used it in this century.

After Mike gets squared away, I'm in for a SS FH 8" drive.

I'm in Ohio.

-ethan

Re: 8" Floppy Drives needed

[Richard Loken via cctalk]

I have, as far as I recall, a 8" single sided full height Shugart drive here 
that I swapped out of my Trash 80 Model II for a pair of half height DSDD 
drives many many years ago.


I can send it to you for the cost of postage if it is of use to you.
--
  Richard Loken VE6BSV: "...underneath those tuques we wear,
  Athabasca, Alberta Canada   : our heads are naked!"
  ** rllo...@telus.net ** :- Arthur Black

Re: 8" Floppy Drives needed

[Paul Berger via cctalk]

Where are you located?  I have two full height single sided Shugart 
drives you could have for shipping.  I got them a few years ago for a 
project that I am no longer interested in.  They are used and I do not 
know if they are fully functional or not, but could do some basic 
testing if your are interested.  I am located on the east coast of Canada.


Paul.

On 2022-01-12 1:16 p.m., Mike Katz via cctalk wrote:
I am looking for one or two 8" floppy drives, preferably Shugart 
compatible at a reasonable price.


Does anyone have anything like this laying around, unused, in their 
basement, storage locker, garage, etc.


I am looking to make a RX01 (and hopefully RX02) disk formatter and 
copier.


Thanks,

 Mike

8" Floppy Drives needed

[Mike Katz via cctalk]

I am looking for one or two 8" floppy drives, preferably Shugart 
compatible at a reasonable price.


Does anyone have anything like this laying around, unused, in their 
basement, storage locker, garage, etc.


I am looking to make a RX01 (and hopefully RX02) disk formatter and copier.

Thanks,

 Mike

Re: NEXT/LISP Mirror has viruses

[Mike Katz via cctalk]

I am looking for one or two 8" floppy drives, preferably Shugart 
compatible at a reasonable price.


Does anyone have anything like this laying around, unused, in their 
basement, storage locker, garage, etc.


I am looking to make a RX01 (and hopefully RX02) disk formatter and copier.

Thanks,

 Mike

Re: DEC 3000/600 Alphaserver problems

[Jon Elson via cctalk]

On 1/11/22 5:17 PM, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote:


Thanks Jon.

Here is a badly focused picture of the suspect components:

http://www.beyondthepale.ie/cctech/p1010198.jpg


WOW, I don't know what those are!  They look like big 
ceramic caps to me, but if they don't have any polarity 
marking, then they can't be Tantalum.  Big multilayer 
ceramics are prone to cracking due to board flexing, and 
that can cause catastrophic failure, too.


Jon

PDF of FP11-A FMPS available

[Noel Chiappa via cctalk]

Just ran across this:

  
http://wwcm.synology.me/pdf/MP00189%20FP11-A%20Field%20Maintenance%20Print%20Set.pdf

which isn't available online in this form. (This appears to be a different scan
from the one on the Maine Coon site, split up into several TIFF's, as it has
the cover which that one doesn't show.)


As always, history shows that the best way not to lose things is to have
multiple independent copies! So download often!

Noel