Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Alan Perry via cctalk
On 1/18/22 8:22 AM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: You should be warned that Plastibands do deteriorate after a year or so--I have a package of them that cannot be stretched without breaking. Do you keep them in sealed bags? I keep mine in a zip-lock and the ones that I got a couple years

Re: seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Mike Katz via cctalk
If you include the 6875 Timer chip, follow the data sheet carefully, it's a little tricky in its discretes (I don't remember from 40 years ago what exactly it is). The biggest disadvantage to the 6850 ACIA and 14411 Baud rate generator is the baud rate is NOT software selectable. SWTBUG was

Re: AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread geneb via cctalk
On Tue, 18 Jan 2022, Grant Taylor via cctalk wrote: On 1/18/22 2:21 PM, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote: https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/floppy-disk-table/ I like it! But I hate the price. The problem is right there in the name of the site. :D g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007

Re: seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Chris Elmquist via cctalk
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 11:35PM +), Jonathan Chapman wrote: > How's about a Glitchbus board set that's compatible? I was planning on doing > it anyway. That would be very cool. Something along those lines was my plan B and I even dug out a tube of 6802's for the effort. I think I could

Re: AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread Grant Taylor via cctalk
On 1/18/22 2:21 PM, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote: https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/floppy-disk-table/ I like it! But I hate the price. -- Grant. . . . unix || die

Re: seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Jonathan Chapman via cctalk
How's about a Glitchbus board set that's compatible? I was planning on doing it anyway. Thanks, Jonathan ‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐ On Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 at 16:45, Chris Elmquist via cctalk wrote: > On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 03:37PM -0600), Mike Katz wrote: > > > If the

Re: AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread Cameron Kaiser via cctalk
>>> I can only conclude you needed something to save the surface on one of >>> these... >>> https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/floppy-disk-table/ >> >> I just love that table > > Although the ad says "1.44 megabytes", it is a 720K. > The write enable notch is not openable to write protect it,

Re: AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread Fred Cisin via cctalk
What's the going price for a Cray round sofa/bench?

Re: AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread Fred Cisin via cctalk
I can only conclude you needed something to save the surface on one of these... https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/floppy-disk-table/ On Tue, 18 Jan 2022, Mike Katz via cctalk wrote: I just love that table Although the ad says "1.44 megabytes", it is a 720K. The write enable notch is not

Re: AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread Fred Cisin via cctalk
On Tue, 18 Jan 2022, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote: I can only conclude you needed something to save the surface on one of these... https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/floppy-disk-table/ I have a RAMAC platter. (24" diameter; arguably FIRST hard disk, from 1958?; when they wouldn't let Nikita

Re: seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Chris Elmquist via cctalk
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 03:37PM -0600), Mike Katz wrote: > If the software is using ROM routines then the address doesn't matter for > the applications.  If not, you can create an abstraction layer (set of > drivers for the ACIA, 6875 Timer and PIA) and if all of the code is written > to the

Re: AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread Mike Katz via cctalk
I just love that table On 1/18/2022 3:21 PM, Peter Coghlan via cctalk wrote: On Tue, 18 Jan 2022 at 13:38:32 -0700, Adam Thornton via cctalk wrote: I wish I'd kept some. I had some AOL CDs from slightly later that made decent coasters for decades. Although I guess with the shutter, the

Re: seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Mike Katz via cctalk
If the software is using ROM routines then the address doesn't matter for the applications.  If not, you can create an abstraction layer (set of drivers for the ACIA, 6875 Timer and PIA) and if all of the code is written to the abstraction layer then all you need to do is link in the

Re: AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread Peter Coghlan via cctalk
On Tue, 18 Jan 2022 at 13:38:32 -0700, Adam Thornton via cctalk wrote: > > I wish I'd kept some. I had some AOL CDs from slightly later that made > decent coasters for decades. Although I guess with the shutter, the floppy > wouldn't really have made a very good coaster. > I can only conclude

Re: AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread Grant Taylor via cctalk
On 1/18/22 1:38 PM, Adam Thornton via cctalk wrote: I wish I'd kept some. I had some AOL CDs from slightly later that made decent coasters for decades. Although I guess with the shutter, the floppy wouldn't really have made a very good coaster. Chuckle. When I think of "coasters" I think

AOL diskettes

2022-01-18 Thread Adam Thornton via cctalk
> From: Grant Taylor > > I wince at the idea of running with QIC tape. But my experience is with > QIC-80 tapes of the '90s which were so unreliable as to be in the same > category as AOL floppy disks during the late '90s around the transition > to CD-ROMs. As in I would trust an AOL

Re: seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Chris Elmquist via cctalk
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 02:01PM -0600), Mike Katz wrote: > I think it might be easier to modify the 680 prom for the I/O addresses of > the board rather than modify the board to match the ROM. Agreed-- except the goal, which I failed to elaborate on, is to come up with an Altair 680 development

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Chuck Guzis via cctalk
On 1/18/22 11:38, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote: > > >> On Jan 18, 2022, at 10:09 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk >> wrote: >> >>> My opinion is that if you're trying to use DC carts for archival >> storage, you should have your (tape) head examined. >> >> Not archival storage, just day-to-day

Re: seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Mike Katz via cctalk
I think it might be easier to modify the 680 prom for the I/O addresses of the board rather than modify the board to match the ROM. Especially if the address decoding for the I/O is done in PAL (10L8 for example). Some 6800 address decoding was done with 74LS138s.  This had the potential to

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Zane Healy via cctalk
> On Jan 18, 2022, at 10:09 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk > wrote: > >> My opinion is that if you're trying to use DC carts for archival > storage, you should have your (tape) head examined. > > Not archival storage, just day-to-day operation on old stuff, like Sun3/Sun4, > AT UNIX PC,

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Zane Healy via cctalk
On Jan 18, 2022, at 8:58 AM, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote: > >> As someone that has worked with computer tapes for nearly 40 years, I have >> to question the sanity of this. These > tapes are *HOW* old? What was their intended lifespan? While we all like to > keep our hardware as original

Re: seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Chris Elmquist via cctalk
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 02:09PM -0500), Bill Degnan wrote: > Not exactly a match but I do have this, if it helps: > https://www.vintagecomputer.net/motorola/mek6800d2/MEK6800D2.pdf Thanks Bill. I have that too and in fact a couple D2 boards so I am set there. This is a specific detail so that

Re: seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Bill Degnan via cctalk
Not exactly a match but I do have this, if it helps: https://www.vintagecomputer.net/motorola/mek6800d2/MEK6800D2.pdf Bill On Tue, Jan 18, 2022 at 1:54 PM Chris Elmquist via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > I have quite a few Motorola Microsystems Exorciser boards including this > 6800

seeking Motorola M68MM01A2 documentation

2022-01-18 Thread Chris Elmquist via cctalk
I have quite a few Motorola Microsystems Exorciser boards including this 6800 single board computer for which I am lacking any documentation. I've seen a brochure in Al's collection on Bitsavers but haven't found any details that might discuss jumper settings or even better, a schematic.

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Grant Taylor via cctalk
On 1/18/22 11:21 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote: I don't do a reinstall of SunOS every day, though! Fair enough. If I had a process where something might fail in between uses, I'd augment the process to re-write the image to a (new instance of) tape before I try to use it. Yeah,

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Jonathan Chapman via cctalk
> However, "couple (of) months" seems incongruent with "day-to-day". I don't do a reinstall of SunOS every day, though! > I am assuming that the day-to-day operation to mean that the source data > is still accessible on the source system. As such, it's probably simply > a matter of annoyance

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Grant Taylor via cctalk
On 1/18/22 11:09 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote: Not archival storage, just day-to-day operation on old stuff, like Sun3/Sun4, AT UNIX PC, etc. Okay. I can see that. However, "couple (of) months" seems incongruent with "day-to-day". I am assuming that the day-to-day operation to mean

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Jonathan Chapman via cctalk
> I wince at the idea of running with QIC tape. But my experience is with > QIC-80 tapes of the '90s Yes, small ftape QIC-80s were certainly in the "not great" category! Thanks, Jonathan

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Jonathan Chapman via cctalk
> My opinion is that if you're trying to use DC carts for archival storage, you should have your (tape) head examined. Not archival storage, just day-to-day operation on old stuff, like Sun3/Sun4, AT UNIX PC, etc. > As someone that has worked with computer tapes for nearly 40 years, I have to

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Grant Taylor via cctalk
On 1/18/22 8:33 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote: https://i.imgur.com/48EfOQG.jpg Ouch! With my luck, that would have been the index / start of tape marker rendering the rest of the tape mostly unusable. That's after sitting parked a couple months. Um I would naively think

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Chris Zach via cctalk
As someone that has worked with computer tapes for nearly 40 years, I have to question the sanity of this. These tapes are *HOW* old? What was their intended lifespan? While we all like to keep our hardware as original as possible, does it really make sense to try to run systems in this day

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Chuck Guzis via cctalk
On 1/18/22 07:33, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote: > https://i.imgur.com/48EfOQG.jpg > > That's after sitting parked a couple months. I have a Dysan doing it too. The > Dysan had been re-banded with a boiled 3M band and run for years like that > with no shedding. I have another Dysan with a

Re: WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Zane Healy via cctalk
On Jan 18, 2022, at 7:33 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote: > > I know, I know..."just use the band to get data off." But I want to *run* > QICs without having to destroy them constantly. As someone that has worked with computer tapes for nearly 40 years, I have to question the sanity of

WARNING: Clear QIC Tape Bands

2022-01-18 Thread Jonathan Chapman via cctalk
https://i.imgur.com/48EfOQG.jpg That's after sitting parked a couple months. I have a Dysan doing it too. The Dysan had been re-banded with a boiled 3M band and run for years like that with no shedding. I have another Dysan with a green Plastiband in it which is also fine, minimal/no shed. So,