The Retrocomputing Thread

[Aurora Borealis]

@Paul: Awww... Too bad your Mac running System 6 doesn't work.


The oldest I have is my Blue+White Power Mac G3 from 1999.

However, I have used Apple I BASIC! (click link for details. It's really geeky!)

[stewartsage]

I passed up a half dozen Performa's of varying ages because I couldn't carry them.

[VonDaab]

Mine is oldest!

Okay, its not mine, but its a replica of the "baby" from 1948.

[Bella]

Apple I BASIC... fun. .w.

I've programmed Dartmouth BASIC before, on an emulated DTSS system. The oldest OS I've used is CTSS (~1961).

[Paul]

There are still functioning CTSS installations? :O

[Bella]

There hasn't been a functioning CTSS installation since the first and only one at MIT got shut down in 1973... but MIT open sourced its code in 2004, and by 2010 there was a mostly turnkey, minor-assembly-required emulated system made:



...ironically, I got this up and running in a half-hour while the workings of the SIHM emulator still elude me after years. I've yet to find a single walkthrough/how-to that makes a bit of sense - the Hercules and 7090 emulator communities, ironically, seem geared at people who might not know what they're doing (Imagine that, some of us don't have an inborn knowledge of the workings of 40-year-old computers!) and lay everything out a lot more clearly.

Sorry for the rant - I can't find a single shred of info on how I can boot my emulated PDP-11/Unix v. 5, 6 and 7 system. The site that had the instructions is gone. >__<

[Aurora Borealis]

@Bella: Would CTSS-tan be considered alive again, since after all, Multics was brought back from the dead when her OS was Open Sourced too?

CTSS looks so different- is it hard to use?

[Bella]

It seems that CTSS-tan should be alive again, considering that the system has been brought back - but then we'd have to make other concessions, like Xenix-tan being reintroduced since Xenix is totally alive and kicking...



...but at the same time, one could argue that Multics-tan and SAGE-tan shouldn't be alive since their representative systems are long dead. So it all comes down to storyline and creator preference.

Eh... I really haven't worked with it enough to confirm or deny its difficulty. : \

[NejinOniwa]

Zombies, zombies everywhere! Necromancers must be in vogue or something.

[stewartsage]

I met The Great Necromancer in First Aid at Scout camp years ago; great guy.

[Bella]

So, I'm now the proud mother of twin Commodore 128s, a 1571 floppy drive, monitor, modem, a few game cartridges, a stack of floppies (some of which are DEC-made, yay~) and a bunch of other accessories.

The seller was cool, he works in information and data destruction and sees old computers come through his facility all the time. Most of which get destroyed, 'cause, you know, it's a data destruction facility. (He says he's tried to convince the company to make a computer museum out of the stuff instead, to no avail). >___>

He demoed one of the 128s (the other is added as a scrap/parts machine, though it runs), and I got to play with a TRS-80 portable! And go on a five-minute Boston-is-the-cradle-of-computers-why-the-hell-does-nobody-realize-this rant! And then another rant/lecture about SAGE! And then, I did pretty much the same for Multics! Then we talked about DEC and mourned Ken Olsen's death.

Needless to say, it was a good day. Now I have to figure out how to load a game cartridge... don't look at me like that. I don't know how far to push it in, or whatever, and if it's supposed to be so loose-feeling. I don't think so... but then again, I abide by the old adage of Never Force ANYTHING.

[Red-Machine]

Just jam it in.  You'll feel some resistance, but keep pusing till it won't go in anymore.  Then turn the machine on.

Simples.

[Bella]

I eventually came to this conclusion and it worked fine~

[NejinOniwa]

J-J-J-JAM IT IN~

[Bella]

Some pictures of Viola and Sweetpea, the twin C=128s. These were shot after I was done playing with them, so forgive me for not having any in-action shots.


Viola and her power brick and monitor. This system was used as a work-computer in a business until 2000!


A closer picture of the unit


Sweetpea, the included-for-parts C=128. Note the missing key and JiffyDOS switch. (Which reminds me: I really should make some sort of guard for Viola's switch, 'cause it's very exposed and fragile. ><)


Accessories: some sort of multi-cartridge adapter, a printer interface, serial cartridge, two game cartridges, a text-to-speech cartridge, a modem/1200, and a couple dozen floppies with various software


I can now say I'm the owner of a DEC product! And a flight sim from the 1980s...


1571 drive