I finally was able to boot an IBM PC with  IBM CP/M-86 1.0.
Bill

A co-worker had a flood in his basement a few years ago and his Tektronix 453
scope was under water.  Once it dried out, we plugged it in and it does still
work.  Many of the controls are dirty.  I wouldn't use this as my main scope,
but it someone wants to clean this up it should be a nice little scope again. 
Is someone looking for a restoration project who also needs a scope?  If you
don't want to handle the internals then the case and front panel can still clean
up  nicely for a static display.  It's a dual-trace 50 MHz scope used in
professional environments.  Ie, this was priced and built for commercial use

A nice page showing internals and some words on restoration:

   http://www.diyguitarist.com/TestEquipment/Tektronix453.htm

I'm in south Jersey or can bring it to TCF.  Otherwise it goes into trash this
week.  I've got two other scopes and don't need yet another project.

Bob

Thanks for the offer, Bill.

Actually, I did go on Google, and found there was still lots of good information
to be gleaned from the net, under "ASCII printer codes". Glad to see the
Internet is still, "backward compatible" in this regard. Lots of other "Vintage
Info" is no longer available. :-)

Ron

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, B Degnan <billdeg@...> wrote:
>
> Hey Ron,
> What printer, maybe I have the actual manual.  I know that these
> commands were in HP laserjet manuals because I used to use them when I
> programmed using the Clipper language.  I have a chart from a Gemini
> 10X/15X nearby, what exactly do you need?
> Bill Degnan
>

 

just making some remarks about the distinction...

Evan Koblentz wrote:

Just because something is a mutant doesn't make it historic. 

The smaller drive form factor which demonstrated a better storage density is an innovation not a mutant. Their LCD laptop may be an example of another mutant of that period but you can't dismiss the innovation.

 

I finally was able to boot an IBM PC with IBM CP/M-86 1.0.
Bill

Mazel tov.   :)

------Original Message------
From: B Degnan
Sender: MARCH Yahoo
To: MARCH Yahoo
ReplyTo: MARCH Yahoo
Subject: [midatlanticretro] IBM CP/M-86 1.0
Sent: Mar 7, 2010 8:22 AM

I finally was able to boot an IBM PC with  IBM CP/M-86 1.0.
Bill



------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

Pictures are here
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=324

evan@... wrote:
> Mazel tov.   :)
>
> ------Original Message------
> From: B Degnan
> Sender: MARCH Yahoo
> To: MARCH Yahoo
> ReplyTo: MARCH Yahoo
> Subject: [midatlanticretro] IBM CP/M-86 1.0
> Sent: Mar 7, 2010 8:22 AM
>
> I finally was able to boot an IBM PC with  IBM CP/M-86 1.0.
> Bill
>
>
>

 

I'm glad this came back up, as I have been meaning to respond to this. I have one of these, and I HAD one back in 1992, which I purchased on clearance from a company through "Computer Shopper." I believe I paid about $299 for it. It's not significant in the history of personal computers, nor specifically the laptop, but I still find it very interesting. I had long given mine away, so I then starting looking for one a few years ago, and got one off of eBay.

So, I guess the better word for it is - collectible. It's very collectible, because it's unique enough and interesting. Not only does it have the unique 2" disk drive, but it could also have one or two meg of RAM, which you could allocate part of as a RAM drive. It also booted DOS 3.3 from ROM, plus, it has a very cool version of LapLink (I'm pretty sure that's the brand) in ROM, where you can just connect it to another computer, and transfer across to it, so you can then begin transferring files. I was in college part-time, and I was taking a course in both Lotus 1-2-3 and dBase III+. I purchased the computer to do my work at home, instead of at the lab (I had a Mac at home). I was able to copy the programs off of one of the lab computers to my minisPORT, shhhhhh. I only used the software for those courses.

This is a unique and proud part of my collection, along side at least two other, non-significant, but very cool computers -
the Canon Navigator
http://www.museo8bits.com/navigator.htm

and the Convergent Technologies WorkSlate
http://www.vintagecomputer.net/convergent/

I also used to see those advertised for about $1200 or so in the same timespan in "Computer Shopper."

Best,

David Greelish

www.ClassicComputing.com
The Home of Computer History Nostalgia

The Classic Computing Show podcast

Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer
audio book podcast

The Classic Computing Expo
(planning / working towards summer 2010)

 

Yeesh .... I kept reading and Bob A.'s name comes up, including the answer to my question.  Amazing.

---------------------------------------------

Ha .... You read my mind!  I was just about to reply and say, "Let's see if we can get either The Bobs to comment on this."

Do you know who wrote the manuals?

---------------------------------------------

Glad you enjoyed them :)

A lot of people focus on the hardware and software of the early days, but most of the stories behind the scenes go untold.  The stories are the best part!  The early 80s was a very exciting time in the personal computer world and a few of us were fortunate enough to work for personal computer companies back then.

Bob

On Feb 25, 2010, at 6:36 PM, ysgdhio wrote:

 

http://www.ironicsans.com/2010/02/they_dont_make_computer_manual.html

(Wouldn't have been half as good without the added commentary by Bob!)

Cheers,
Andy

 

Since this is of personal interest to me, keep in mind that there is documentation and then there are the things that went on behind the scenes.  Docs are important, but a lot of the docs have stuff that nobody notices until the "inside story" gets told, as was the case with the web page that started this whole discussion.  I can probably find copies of the Franklin ACE-1000 documentation at a number of computer museums, but how many curators know what all the pictures mean?  100 years from now there will still be vintage computers sitting in collections along with the docs, but little of the history or inside stories.  Believe me, a LOT of interesting things went on at the time that never got documented :)

I remember one of the first episodes of Futurama when Fry and Leela go to the moon and watch a stage presentation about the early space program, none of which is told correctly.  Is the same fate awaiting the early days of personal computers?  Only Microsoft, IBM and Apple will have any legacy?

Bob

On Mar 7, 2010, at 1:40 PM, Jim Scheef wrote:

 

So can we do a better job of collecting documentation? (rhetorical question) The fact that Bitsavers has so much is no excuse for us to not make every effort to collect and preserve original copies of manuals. Such a library should make the museum a destination for historians and collectors to do research. Plug and Play was the worst thing that ever happened to documentation. Manufacturers think they can just say "plug it in and it will work" and when it does, everyone is happy. But when it doesn't, there to no way to debug.

Jim

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

Also collectible = fun

One thing I think we lose focus on is that our hobby is supposed to be fun.

Case in point: I like SGIs.. I enjoy the old 3D demos that were the cutting edge
back then. To think that these machines were the cutting edge of 3D and that
technologies like OpenGL were born on them.



--- On Sun, 3/7/10, Jim Scheef <scheefj@...> wrote:
Hooray for anyone who collects what s/he finds interesting irrespective
of 10 year rules or any other arbitrary criteria. Collectible is not
equal to historic and historic does not define collectible.

Which is exactly why I urged you to do a "Franklin Panel" for VCF a few years
ago! I probably should have just attached Evan to your ankle. You and Franklin
are an integral part of the "revolution" and you/we should be interviewing and
documenting (in the historical, not "user manual" sense) the work that you did.
Same with some of the other club resources such as Claude, Herb, Bob Kushnier,
and several others.

Sheesh!

Jack

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, Bob Applegate <bob@...> wrote:
>
> Since this is of personal interest to me, keep in mind that there is
documentation and then there are the things that went on behind the scenes. 
Docs are important, but a lot of the docs have stuff that nobody notices until
the "inside story" gets told, as was the case with the web page that started
this whole discussion.  I can probably find copies of the Franklin ACE-1000
documentation at a number of computer museums, but how many curators know what
all the pictures mean?  100 years from now there will still be vintage computers
sitting in collections along with the docs, but little of the history or inside
stories.  Believe me, a LOT of interesting things went on at the time that never
got documented :)
>
> I remember one of the first episodes of Futurama when Fry and Leela go to the
moon and watch a stage presentation about the early space program, none of which
is told correctly.  Is the same fate awaiting the early days of personal
computers?  Only Microsoft, IBM and Apple will have any legacy?
>
> Bob
>
<snip>

Jack99rubin <jack.rubin@...> wrote :

>Which is exactly why I urged you to do a "Franklin Panel" for VCF a few years
ago! I probably should have just attached Evan to your ankle. You and Franklin
are an integral part of the "revolution" and you/we should be interviewing and
documenting (in the historical, not "user manual" sense) the work that you did.
Same with some of the other club resources such as Claude, Herb, Bob Kushnier,
and several others.

Well, that was completely my fault, not Evan's.  He called to ask if I'd have
something together for VCF but I was really focused on too many things and
completely let the exhibit slip.  It also happened around the start of the
school year so I was busy with kid stuff.

FWIW, one of the three founders and original President of Franklin, Joel
Shusterman, said he'd be very interested in participating in something like
this.  He's a very funny guy with tons of drive and lots of good stories.  Joel
recently gave me a ton of early Franklin stuff, including framed photos of early
products that used to hang in his office, early marketing give-aways, along with
7 or 8 boxes of software, the master copies of some of the documents associated
with the Apple lawsuit (ie, the OFFICIAL ones given to Franklin), a Laser 128
personally given to him by the president of Laser, etc.  I've got Franklin mugs,
pen/pencil sets, screwdrivers, stationary, pins, buttons, faceplates, balloons,
kites, posters, and more things than I can think of.

My wife and kids complain about the piles of stuff in the basement.


___________________________________
NOCC, http://nocc.sourceforge.net

Message: 5
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 22:25:32 -0800 (PST)
From: Sellam Ismail <sellam@...>
Subject: Taking offers on PDP-8 (straight-8)
To: Classic Computers Mailing List <cctalk@...>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.61.1003072215210.14786@...>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

A straight-8 has come up for sale. I am representing the seller. I have
photos and details. If you're interested please e-mail me and I'll send
over some information.

Preliminary photos are here:

http://siconic.com/computers/PDP-8/

We'll take opening offers and if there's one good enough then we'll cut to

a straigt (8) sale. Otherwise, it'll move on to a VCF web auction at a
future date.

Thanks!!

--

Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival

http://8bitnyc.com/

Bill, I'd have to guess that MARCHins shopping for one of those are
already members of cctalk.   :)

Ours is NOT for sale.  :)

---------------------------------------------
> Message: 5
> Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 22:25:32 -0800 (PST)
> From: Sellam Ismail<sellam@...>
> Subject: Taking offers on PDP-8 (straight-8)
> To: Classic Computers Mailing List<cctalk@...>
> Message-ID:<Pine.LNX.4.61.1003072215210.14786@...>
> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
>
> A straight-8 has come up for sale. I am representing the seller. I have
> photos and details. If you're interested please e-mail me and I'll send
> over some information.
>
> Preliminary photos are here:
>
> http://siconic.com/computers/PDP-8/
>
> We'll take opening offers and if there's one good enough then we'll cut to
>
> a straigt (8) sale. Otherwise, it'll move on to a VCF web auction at a
> future date.
>
> Thanks!!
>
>

Just moving the coversation to our board, duh.

I was thinking of putting in an offer of $32,000 but I am flying a team out
to take a look at it first.  just kidding.  Too rich for my blood/wife
would kill me/MARCH already has one.

Bill

-------- Original Message --------
> From: "Evan Koblentz" <evan@...>
> Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 1:44 PM
> To: midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [midatlanticretro] PDP Straight 8 for sale
>
> Bill, I'd have to guess that MARCHins shopping for one of those are
> already members of cctalk.   :)
>
> Ours is NOT for sale.  :)
>
> ---------------------------------------------
> > Message: 5
> > Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 22:25:32 -0800 (PST)
> > From: Sellam Ismail<sellam@...>
> > Subject: Taking offers on PDP-8 (straight-8)
> > To: Classic Computers Mailing List<cctalk@...>
> > Message-ID:<Pine.LNX.4.61.1003072215210.14786@...>
> > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
> >
> > A straight-8 has come up for sale. I am representing the seller. I
have
> > photos and details. If you're interested please e-mail me and I'll
send
> > over some information.
> >
> > Preliminary photos are here:
> >
> > http://siconic.com/computers/PDP-8/
> >
> > We'll take opening offers and if there's one good enough then we'll cut
to
> >
> > a straigt (8) sale. Otherwise, it'll move on to a VCF web auction at a
> > future date.
> >
> > Thanks!!
> >
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

On 3/8/2010 1:20 PM, Christian Liendo wrote:

http://8bitnyc.com/

Sounds interesting, but the website is down/real slow.  But this seems like more history rewriting because it makes it look like 8-bit started with the NES. :-(

Wondering if anyone has seen Micro Men (Syntax Era)? IMDb:  http://tinyurl.com/o2bpdb

The reviews make it seem interesting enough, but then I read comments about bit humor and it being a great drama (a dramatic bit humor comedy?) – And wonder if it is worth 90 minutes of my time.  So, anyone seen it?

> Which is exactly why I urged you to do a "Franklin Panel" for VCF a few years
ago! I probably should have just attached Evan to your ankle.
>

Sounds painful.

> Well, that was completely my fault, not Evan's.  He called to ask if I'd have
something together for VCF but I was really focused on too many things and
completely let the exhibit slip.  It also happened around the start of the
school year so I was busy with kid stuff.
>
> FWIW, one of the three founders and original President of Franklin, Joel
Shusterman, said he'd be very interested in participating in something like
this.  He's a very funny guy with tons of drive and lots of good stories.  Joel
recently gave me a ton of early Franklin stuff, including framed photos of early
products that used to hang in his office, early marketing give-aways, along with
7 or 8 boxes of software, the master copies of some of the documents associated
with the Apple lawsuit (ie, the OFFICIAL ones given to Franklin), a Laser 128
personally given to him by the president of Laser, etc.  I've got Franklin mugs,
pen/pencil sets, screwdrivers, stationary, pins, buttons, faceplates, balloons,
kites, posters, and more things than I can think of.

Plenty of time to prepare all that before VCF East 7.0, sometime in May
2011 ...... or it could be part of a museum exhibit before then.

On Mon, 22 Feb 2010, Mike Loewen wrote:

>    My IMSAI came with a Morrow Disk Jockey 2D/B floppy controller, and a
> box full of 8" diskettes.  The original owner of the system did a lot of
> hacking on it, and the boot disks are apparently set up for the Dynabyte
> Naked Terminal display board that came with the system, for which I have
> no documentation or keyboard.  My first goal is to get the system to boot
> to a serial console, using the serial port on the 2D/B.

     Using a combination of old and new technologies, I was finally able to
get CP/M booted on the IMSAI and talking (correctly) to the terminal.

http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/IMSAI/IMSAI-07L.jpg

     Briefly:

1. Used dosbox on Linux to run Dave Dunfield's IMDU to extract tracks 0.
1, and 2-76 from the system disk image.

2. Used dd on Linux to create 2 empty tracks (0 and 1) and concatenated
them with tracks 2-76 to create a 77 track binary image with the same
sector layout (9x1024).  The original disk had 26x128 sectors on track 0
and 9x1024 on tracks 1-76.

3. Created a custom drive defition on Linux and used cpmtools to read the
directory (cpmls) and extract the files from the image (cmpcp).

4. Found the ASM source for the boot loader, CCP (ZCPR) and CBIOS as
configured for the Dynabyte Naked Terminal board.

5. Modified the CBIOS to use the 2D/B serial port as the console and
assembled it under the sdltrs emulator to a HEX file.

6. Used a load utility on Linux to convert the CBIOS HEX file to a binary
file to be loaded at EB00H.

7. Wrote a Linux utility to patch the new CBIOS binary file into the
extracted track 1 in place of the old CBIOS, and concatenated tracks 0, 1
and 2-76 to a single binary image.

8. Used dosbox to run BIN2IMD to turn the binary image file back into an
IMD file.

9. Wrote the IMD back to diskette, and booted the IMSAI.

     Before this, I had made several attempts to directly patch code on the
disk image, but was unable to get console input working properly.

     This is extremely convoluted, but it worked.  :-)  I'm going to do a
detailed write-up and post it on my IMSAI page, for those interested in
the nuts and bolts.


Mike Loewen 		 mloewen@...
Old Technology http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

> Briefly:

Mike, we have to talk about your definition of "briefly". :)

 Before this, I had made several attempts to directly patch code on the disk image, but was unable to get console input working properly.
This is extremely convoluted, but it worked. :-) I'm going to do a detailed write-up and post it on my IMSAI page, for those interested in the nuts and bolts.

http://www.vintagecomputer.net/ragooman/

Bryan Pope wrote:

On 3/8/2010 1:20 PM, Christian Liendo wrote:

http://8bitnyc.com/

Sounds interesting, but the website is down/real slow.  But this seems like more history rewriting because it makes it look like 8-bit started with the NES. :-(

slow on this end too

http://www.vintagecomputer.net/ragooman/