[cctalk] Re: HAPPY DEC-20 DAY!

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

Thanks Rich

Hope everything is well with you.

Mark 
Sent from my iPhone

> On 20 Dec 2023, at 18:32, Rich Alderson via cctalk  
> wrote:
> 
>    Happy DEC-20 Day!
> 
> My late friend Mark always noted that TOPS-20 (and the DECSYSTEM-20 on which 
> it
> runs) was a great improvement on its successors.
> 
> I wish you all a joyous Winter Solstice Festival, however you may choose to
> celebrate it.
> 
>Rich

[cctalk] Re: loading vt220 fonts

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

See here: https://vt100.net/dec/vt320/fonts

You simply type the files from the command prompt and the escape sequences
in the file tell the terminal to load the font data rather than display it
on the screen.

Mark.

On Fri, 6 Jan 2023 at 07:28, Wayne S via cctalk 
wrote:

> You want to look at this manual.
> https://vt100.net/docs/vt220-rm
> Vt100 doesn't support soft char sets but vt220 on does.
>
>
> Wayne
>
>
> > On Jan 5, 2023, at 10:46 PM, David Griffith via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> > I'm trying to figure out how to created and load a "soft character set"
> into a vt220 terminal.  These documents:
> https://vt100.net/shuford/terminal/dec_vt220_codes.txt, and
> https://vt100.net/docs/vt510-rm/DECDLD.html, seem to talk about how to do
> it, but I don't follow this well.  I'm guessing the fonts are made up of
> escape sequences.  Then I guess they are loaded by simply printing them to
> the terminal.  If that's the case, where are the examples of such sequences?
> >
> > Playing around with vttest, there's an option to "Test Soft Character
> Sets" in the "VT220 Tests" menu.  But I get the error message "You did not
> specify a font-file with the -f option".  Where can I find examples of that
> file?
> >
> > Putting these together, I'm guessing what vttest wants is a file
> containing sequences described in those two documents.  So, where do I go
> from here?
> >
> >
> > --
> > David Griffith
> > d...@661.org
> >
> > A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
> > Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
> > A: Top-posting.
> > Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?
>


-- 
M0NOM/P    ADIF Processor

[cctalk] Re: IBM 5100 emulation

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

The DEC Legacy Event is running this year from November 12th-13th 2022 in
Windermere, UK.

Head over to http://wickensonline.co.uk/declegacy/ for more information.

Hope to see you there.

Regards, MArk.

On Mon, 19 Sept 2022 at 17:15, Steve Lewis via cctalk 
wrote:

> Greetings, we've extracted the Executive ROS of the IBM 5100.  The PALM
> opcodes between the 5100 and 5110 should be identical.  So we have
> used Christian Corti emulator code to run that Executive ROS (under Wintel
> environment).  However, the CRC checks and transition to the Language ROS
> apparently works a little differently on the IBM 5100 (compared to the
> 5110).
>
> Not the CRC check method itself, but perhaps the addressing used to look
> for the Common ROS.  In the 5110, the Common ROS is more obviously a
> separate device/card.  For the 5100, I'm not exactly sure where the Common
> ROS is (part of the Executive ROS card, or part of the BASIC ROS card?).
> I've seen some APL-only 5100's, so I think that system could operate with
> the BASIC card (but maybe that device slot still would have the Common ROS
> segments?).
>
> Hoping someone is available to maybe give suggestions or tips in how to get
> this emulator code going with the IBM 5100 ROS's (see EMUV5110 in github;
> trying to use that to run the IBM 5100 ROS's that are at archive.org).
>
> NOTE: The Executive ROS for the IBM 5100 is a 64K binary (I think the last
> 20K of that is blank, all 0's).  In contrast, the Executive ROS for the IBM
> 5110 is 32K.
>


-- 
M0NOM/P    ADIF Processor

8080/8085 Programming books available UK/EU

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

A few seminal 8085  programming books available please see album: 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Rv7vy9eDrMfGK9gz2

 

Looking for £25 including postage to the UK or £20 plus postage elsewhere.

 

Regards Mark

PDP Programming books for sale UK

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

Please see album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZztlMFCSoZcy2ZJz1

Looking for £20 plus postage likely to be less than £5 UK.

Regards Mark

Re: AlphaServers

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

In the Alpha stable I have a 1000A fully loaded with SSB and an external
SSB enclosure running VMS 7.3. I also have the desktop 3000/600 which was
bought for my PhD work with 2GB external DAT and 24 bit graphics. I have
two rackmount 3000/600s and a 3000/800.

I've been planning on downsizing for a while, I'll keep the desktop
3000/600 but will be looking to shift the rest. I had a buyer for the 1000A
a while back but couldn't get it shipped - he was going to give me £250 for
it. I am willing to give away the 3000/800 but it can't be shipped. The
developer of the TB-USB card was earmarked for that one but he is in
Germany and it's just very difficult to get a machine with that weight
shipped.

Regards, Mark.
Windermere, UK.


On 19 March 2018 at 16:22, Rob Jarratt via cctalk 
wrote:

> > -Original Message-
> > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Douglas
> > Taylor via cctalk
> > Sent: 19 March 2018 15:39
> > To: Benjamin Huntsman via cctalk 
> > Subject: Re: AlphaServers
> >
> > Anyone out there do Alphas anymore?
> >
>
> I suppose it depends on what you mean by "do". Do you mean is anyone
> selling them, using them for real work or just using them as a hobbyist? I
> do the last of these (occasionally).
>
> Regards
>
> Rob
>
>
> > I have a running;
> >
> > 1000A 4/266 with 384MB Ram an full compliment of Storage Works disks (has
> > redundant power supplies and a nice roll around cabinet)
> >
> > 3000-300 booting from a SCSI2SD disk, (this is nice since it is kind of
> light and
> > can be picked up and moved easily)
> >
> > 3000-400 booting from a SCSI2SD disk.  (this thing is quite heavy, built
> with
> > heavy think metal to support a equally heavy monitor placed on top)
> >
> > All running hobbyist OpenVMS 8.4, an one VRC16 DEC color monitor.
> >
> > The only part that failed was in the 3000-400, the I/O module (runs
> network,
> > serial, SCSI, video, etc) was faulty and kept the power supply from
> starting up.
> >
> > These 64 bit machines are an interesting compliment to the 32 bit VAXes I
> > have, 4000/400, 3100/M76, MVII, 4VLC and the 16 bit PDP-11's.
> >
> > Doug
>
>

Re: A CD-ROM that is compatible with the 16700A LA!

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

See if you can get hold of an old Plextor SCSI drive - they tend to have
good compatibility with older kit.

On 28 February 2018 at 06:12, Alexandre Souza via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> try to change sector size on your external cd from 512 to 2048 bytes or
> vice-versa. It is a jumper behind the drive.
>
>
> 2018-02-28 3:01 GMT-03:00 Richard Pope via cctalk :
>
> > Hello all,
> >  . . . . For those of you who having not been following my trials and
> > tribulations with a 16700A in another topic here is a partial update. I
> > received this LA from a benefactor who has stepped forward. A real big
> > thanks to him. I have run into that incompatibility problem with External
> > CD-ROM Drives.
> >  . . . . I am disabled and partially housebound. I am living on SSD so
> > money is very tight for me. I am looking for a CD-ROM Drive for little or
> > nothing that is compatible with the 16700A I have an NEC 3x Drive that
> uses
> > the CD Carriers. Remember those. I have installed this and a Maxtor 245MB
> > SCSI drive in an External SCSI box. The Termination on the CD-ROM Drive
> is
> > turned off and I removed the Termination resistors on the HDD. I have a
> > Terminator installed on the end of the SCSI bus on the External Case.
> Could
> > someone please help me out? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
> > GOD Bless and Thanks,
> > rich!
> >
> >
> > ---
> > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> > https://www.avast.com/antivirus
> >
> >
>

Re: VCF PNW 2018: Pictures!

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

What an amazing selection of hardware and software (people).
Thank you for sharing your photos.

Mark.

On 18 February 2018 at 19:04, Jon Elson via cctalk 
wrote:

> On 02/18/2018 04:17 AM, Adrian Graham via cctalk wrote:
>
>> On 18 Feb 2018, at 02:55, Michael Brutman via cctalk <
>>> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> For your viewing pleasure ...
>>>
>>> https://photos.app.goo.gl/QPfZ4WXPdIdUo5gn2
>>>
>>>
>>> -Mike
>>>
>> A happy hour spent going through those, what a place! Thanks for posting.
>>
>>
>> Wow, even a Bendix G-15 in there (although with Control Data logo). Talk
> about a restoration project!!!
>
> Jon
>

Re: VMS 8.4 Alpha Hobbyist disk images

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

https://cdburnerxp.se/en/home

CDBurnerXP is the one to use - as recommended by Stephen Hoffman himself.

Mark.

On 2 February 2018 at 20:07, Robert Adamson via cctech <
cct...@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> > Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2018 12:55:41 -0500
> > From: Douglas Taylor 
> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts" 
> > Subject: VMS 8.4 Alpha Hobbyist disk images
> > Message-ID: <92b4de6a-b537-4bfb-a1fd-1ebe8133f...@comcast.net>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
> >
> > I'm getting an Alphaserver 1000a and wanted to install VMS 8.4 -
> > hobbyist license from CD.
> >
> > So, I went to the folder on my PC where I have the 8.4 hobbyist
> > distribution.? There are 3 ISO files; ALPHA084, ALPHA084LP1 and
> > ALPHA084LP2.
> >
> > I thought I would burn these to CD and up and away.? However, Windows 7
> > balks and says, 'The selected disc image file isn't valid'.
> >
> > Is it Windows 7 or is there something I'm missing?? Is the CD on the
> > Alphaserver 2048 byte block size or 512?
> >
> > Doug
>
> They _are_ 'ISO' images but in a format which Windows 7 or whatever burning
> program you're using doesn't understand.
> I used Nero (or Daemon I think)  to write CDs for my VAX but there will be
> plenty of other programs equally suitable.
> You don't need to do anything special, just treat them as an ISO image and
> let the burning software get on with it.
> Once written, Windows won't be able to read them so don't panic. If the
> burning software includes verification then it (not Windows) will be able
> to
> read them back OK.
>
> (I'm using VMS v7.3 but I'm sure this is no different).
>
> Generally AFAIK the CD readers on Vaxes (Vaxen - ugh!!) and Alphas will
> deliver 512 byte blocks but this isn't relevant for the image itself.
>
> Bob
>
>
>

Re: VMS 8.4 Alpha Hobbyist disk images

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

Doug

Unless you've got a specific reason to run OpenVMS 8.4 for an Alphaserver
1000A I'd recommend a version more in keeping with the age of the machine,
either a variant of 7.3 or something earlier.

How much memory do you have installed?

Regards, Mark.

On 1 February 2018 at 17:55, Douglas Taylor via cctech <
cct...@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> I'm getting an Alphaserver 1000a and wanted to install VMS 8.4 - hobbyist
> license from CD.
>
> So, I went to the folder on my PC where I have the 8.4 hobbyist
> distribution.  There are 3 ISO files; ALPHA084, ALPHA084LP1 and ALPHA084LP2.
>
> I thought I would burn these to CD and up and away.  However, Windows 7
> balks and says, 'The selected disc image file isn't valid'.
>
> Is it Windows 7 or is there something I'm missing?  Is the CD on the
> Alphaserver 2048 byte block size or 512?
>
> Doug
>
>
>

Re: Vaxstation 4000 m60 and NetBSD

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

Good luck and let us know how you get on. There was some activity on this a
good few years ago. The most recent video development is probably the
support for graphics devices in SIMH by Matt - see
http://9track.net/simh/video/

Regards, Mark.

On 20 December 2017 at 00:35, Charles Dickman via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> On Sun, Dec 17, 2017 at 7:09 AM, Marco Rauhut via cctalk
>  wrote:
> > Thanks for your quick answer!
> >
> > Hardware support say no support for LCG Graphics :-(
> >
> > Marco
>
> There are a few people willing to work on graphics for old
> vaxstations, but there is no documentation.
>
> If anyone has documentation, the netbsd vax port mailing list would be
> very interested.
>
> -chuck
>

Re: Vaxstation 4000 m60 and NetBSD

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

Don't forget however that using X remotely works fine.

On 17 December 2017 at 12:09, Marco Rauhut via cctalk  wrote:

> Thanks for your quick answer!
>
> Hardware support say no support for LCG Graphics :-(
>
> Marco
>
>
>
> Am 17.12.2017 um 12:47 schrieb Aaron Jackson:
>
>> 1.) It is not posible to switch the console from RS232 to the VGA
>>> Monitor and Keyboard. If i switch the S3 switch in down position i can
>>> only see the NetBSD Kernel decompression. After that i see nothing on
>>> VGA and RS232 console. The System starts up anyway. After some time it
>>> is possible to connect via LAN.
>>>
>> Very few frame buffers are supported in NetBSD - you will need to check
>> the hardware support list. Even if it is supported, you will only be
>> able to use it as a text-console. To put progress into perspective, I
>> think support for hardware assisted smooth scrolling has only just been
>> added.
>>
>> 2.) Is it posible to run the NetBSD X.Org on that sort of Vaxstation? If
>>> yes... Whats to do to get that running? I Think i have to fix my point 1
>>> first.
>>>
>> NetBSD includes the libraries to run X applications, but no Xserver, so
>> you can only display graphics over the network, nothing locally.
>>
>> Hope that helps. I haven't played about with it for about a year so I
>> might have remembered some things wrong. I'm sure someone will correct
>> me if that's the case :)
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Aaron.
>>
>
>

Re: looking at buying a pocket PC / PDA

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

I'd second the Z88. A lot of people get put off by the keyboard but it
actually works really well, and I'm a proper mechanical keyboard snob. You
get can a proper turn of speed up on it.

Mark

On 29 Oct 2017 4:04 p.m., "Lawrence Woodman via cctalk" <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:



On 29/10/17 15:22, Mike Stein via cctalk wrote:

> Radio Shack M100 (if you've got a large pocket); still used by some
> writers for the very reason you mention.
>
> m
>
> On 29/10/17 06:01, Evan Koblentz wrote:
>
>> I am looking at buying a pocket PC / PDA, so I can write idea/notes
> when I
> am away from my computer
>

>>>
I was also thinking of something a little bit bigger, such as the M100.
The Cambridge Z88 is an excellent machine and they are still being sold new
in box.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Z88

Lorry

Re: Looking for ULTIRIX RISC Software Products Library CDs

[Mark Wickens via cctalk]

Hi Seth

Is the year important?

On 18 Jun 2017 04:47, "Seth Morabito via cctalk" 
wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> I'm looking for ULTRIX RISC Software Products Library CDs from 1996 or
> 1997. If you know of where I can get my hands on them, I'd be grateful.
> Images would work just fine.
>
> -Seth
> --
>   Seth Morabito
>   w...@loomcom.com
>