test-drb February 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

147 participants
783 discussions

by jfoust＠threedee.com

>Does anyone know of a conversion utiliy which will convert files from a >CP/M machine to Mac format? There is someone here willing to part with his >Kaypro 4 but needs to convert his old files first. No one's mentioned the problem that you'll also need to convert the *data* once you've moved the *files*. Which word processor created the files, and which contemporary word processor do you hope to use them in? You may need to revive the original machine or something similar in order to re-save the documents in ASCII. Conversion programs might be available, but that might cost $$$. Of course, you'll need to run 22Disk on a PC equipped with both 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 floppies, then move the files to a 3 1/2 PC disk, and the Mac can read them as-is. - John Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>

28 years, 1 month

slipping sticks

by mtapley＠swri.edu

>"Slipsticker"?!? I thought I was the last one! C'mon -- who else here has >his old slide rule _and_ still remembers how to use it? > >manney Yo! Right here in my desk drawer. Used this one through High School (graduated 1980). The teachers cut me some slack on the 3rd digit from time to time. >No, I do not have _my_ high school/college slide rule, which was a >magnificent 12" yellow aluminum Pickett with a hard leather case and a belt >loop. ... >__________________________________________ >Kip Crosby engine(a)chac.org Oooh, a pretty one. That's just like my "home system". >I also use a E6B ... That one is in the plane as I'm absolutely certain >it works as the calculator version of the E6B allways seems to need a >new battery. > >Allison Right - and it's fast, and the readout is visible in any lighting condition in the cockpit (if you can't read an E6B, navigation is *not* your main problem!) and you can drop it about as far as you want and it'll be OK. I have never used an electronic E6B, for all those reasons. > I know of some people with >700+ units. Me, I have 30, including a 7 foot long Pickett classroom rule. > >Cheers >Andrew Wow...I didn't think this thread would lead to massive array parallel processing *or* supercomputing...but you never know! ;-) - Mark

28 years, 1 month

greetings

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

>the eminent slipsticker Andrew Davie wrote: <Snip> "Slipsticker"?!? I thought I was the last one! C'mon -- who else here has his old slide rule _and_ still remembers how to use it? manney

28 years, 1 month

DSK file format

by archive＠navix.net

Nickolas & everyone else on this thread: Again, I _really_ disagree with this tip. It shouldn't make any difference as to the name. I renamed the files to .dsk and it really didn't make any difference at all, for me anyway. Just wanted to reiterate that myself and many, many other users have not had this problem either. My $.02 CORD COSLOR Nickolas Marentes wrote: > Thanks Paul! I will add this tip onto my Web Page. Could solve many > people's problems. > > > I had some problems using the wonderful files I downloaded from > > Nickolas' web page as well, initially. I was downloading the file under > > MS-DOS, then renaming from *.zip to *.dsk, then porting it to the CoCo > > using the emulator. Couldn't get it to dshrink in any format (ASCII > > thru binary). > > > > Then it occurred to me that by renaming the file in MS-DOS, I was > > slightly changing the contents (the first few bytes of the file, I > > imagine), thus making it unuseable. The solution was to port it over > > with the .ZIP extension as a binary executable, then rename it under > > CoCo BASIC. Worked like a charm. -- _________________________________________ | Cord G. Coslor : archive(a)navix.net | | Deanna S. Wynn : deannasue(a)navix.net | |-----------------------------------------| | PO Box 308 - Peru, NE - 68421-0308 | | (402) 872- 3272 | |_________________________________________|

28 years, 1 month

How much do 8" Floppies hold?

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

Ward (and others) wrote: > > I keep an 8" floppy disk in the front of my store to amaze people ("Just > > fold it twice and stick it in your drive...it holds a lot!") > > > > Just how much do (did?) they hold? (I'm sure there were different data > > densities...just a range is all I want!) > > If I recall, when IBM first invented the things, they held right about > 128k, single sided, single density. By the time I first dealt with them > in the TRS-80 Model 2, they were packing 512k on a single-sided disk. > Later, the Model 16/6000 Xenix systems were packing 1.25M on a double > sided disk. Shortly after that, the format died in favor of 5.25HD. Fair summary, except that I'd have said 'the format lives on in 5.25" HD' - IBM introduced the HD 5.25 inch diskettes to behave as much as possible like 8 inch ones, even though that meant different magnetic properties of the oxide from conventional 5.25". And IBM had enough clout that this displaced the existing 80 track formats right out of the market. IBM PCs that have HD drives have an 8 inch disk controller controlling them. So in summary, an 8 inch disk holds as much as a 5.25 inch one, although older formats held less... Now, does anyone know how much a 14 inch floppy held? (it was 14, wasn't it?) For that matter, who else has ever seen one? We had a drive at IBM which was bigger than the PC it plugged into. The disk (I only ever saw the one!) was in a white card envelope instead of the conventional black plastic one, and the slot where the head went in was along one of the diagonals, but otherwise I remember blank-all about it. Philip.

28 years, 1 month

Development, round II

by jfoust＠threedee.com

"Andrew Davie" <adavie(a)mad.scientist.com> wrote: >Well, since we're on this subject... how can I resist once more >mentioning... Slide Rule Trading Post Well, a fellow winner of the "Geek Site Of The Day" Award. I mention your site on my site, the Terak Museum, which won on October 16, 1996. - John Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>

28 years, 1 month

Altair 8800b + drive alignment

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Acrobat PDF versions of the Shugart SA800/801 Diskette Storage Drive Maintenance Manual can be found online at: <http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~itda/frames.html> This is the page of the Internet Techincal Documentation Archive, a project with the admirable aim of securing official permissions to scan and post the documentation of archaic computer equipment. They have some Terak documents online, but not much else. If you can think of other documents that might be able to be posted in this fashion, please drop them a note! They'll do the work. You'll have to send the scans or paper to Edinburgh, though. - John Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>

28 years, 1 month

Change that URL... (pdp8a CPU picture)

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

You will have to append a / to that... (So it becomes http://209.174.127.164/pdp8/ ) Sorry... -------

28 years, 1 month

Ehehe... I've scanned my KK8-A board! Pictures online!

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

I mean, a paper is flat, and a board is (mostly) flat too, so why wouldn't I be able to scan it? Answer is, I can. It works fine. The only bug is the board is bigger than the scanner... I'll be retryin throughout the day, you can see the pictures at http://209.174.127.164/pdp8 Tell me what you think! Oh, and I wouldn't try this with anything with EPROMs on it... :) -------

28 years, 1 month

Xenix OS

by mallison＠konnections.com

>From the Microsoft Museum 1980 Microsoft Announces XENIX OS Microsoft announces Microsoft XENIX OS, a portable operating system for 16-bit microprocessors. It is an interactive, multi-user, multi-tasking system that will run on Intel 8086, Zilog Z8000, Motorola M68000, and DEC PDP-11 series. All of Microsoft's existing system software (COBOL, PASCAL, BASIC and DBMS) will be adapted to run under the XENIX system, and all existing software written for UNIX OS will be compatible as well. ? 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

28 years, 1 month

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test-drb February 1998