The Retrocomputing Thread

[Bella]

@Stew: What was the joke? :o

The closest I've had to a retrocomputer experience in recent memory is having that Old Timer New Hampshirite direct me to the vacuum tubes when I said I liked old tech/collected old computers/parts. >w>

@Paul: That is too awesome, let us know how everything goes/provide pics. ^.^

I found a couple of PDP-8s selling in Boston a few weeks ago on Craigslist, it's nice to know old DEC hardware is still kicking around. -w-

[Dr. Kraus]

Happened to find someone selling a IBM Model M keyboard on craigslist which I'm considering because its THE GREATEST KEYBOARD EVER TO BE MADE

[Paul]

My AS/400 Terminals use a model m
And my DasKeyboard is based on it (clicky Cherry switches)

[Red-Machine]

My Dell keyboard is a clone of the Model M.  With Windows keys.

[Paul]

Hmm, just had a look at some pictures of the AS1000A and I gotta say... DEC sure knew how to make FUGLY computers (the PDP and VAXen looked cool, but the Alpha stuff not really)

And there's an IBM BladeCenter lurking around that apparently no one wants (still going for 4 days), but since it's pickup only I doubt the price will get high. Thing has 8 blades already installed *.*
Maybe, just maybe...

[Nichi]

I think that really old keyboard I have is based on the Model M; it's shaped like most Model Ms I see pictures of, and it has the clicky keys. However, I'm not too sure...

[Paul]

The AS1000 is here
Guy who sold her actually is a huge Alpha-fan and was also one of the people who ported Linux to Alpha :3

Anyway, thing is heavy, white and really quiet for a server. Has 768mb ram and a 333 MHz CPU. Currently there's Linux on it, but I'm gonna feed it OpenVMS as soon as I get it.
Name's gonna be either Decathlon or Alfie, can't decide yet.

Pics will also follow!

EDIT!: Just ordered the OpenVMS Alpha hobbyist kit :3

[Bella]

The AS1000 is here :D
Guy who sold her actually is a huge Alpha-fan and was also one of the people who ported Linux to Alpha :3

Anyway, thing is heavy, white and really quiet for a server. Has 768mb ram and a 333 MHz CPU. Currently there's Linux on it, but I'm gonna feed it OpenVMS as soon as I get it.
Name's gonna be either Decathlon or Alfie, can't decide yet.

Pics will also follow!

EDIT!: Just ordered the OpenVMS Alpha hobbyist kit :3

Awesome, dude! (Though Linux on Alpha... grrrrr.... I object to Unix-likes on anything DECish. It's just unnatural, yanno?) 'w'

I would go with DECathalon, if only 'cause it sounds cooler. 8)

And please keep us up-to-date on how the obtaining/installing OpenVMS process goes! I've always been rather curious about the details....

[Paul]

Obtaining OpenVMS is quite simple.
First you'll have to register at a VMS chapter (sort of a hobbyist group). DECUServe is the most unproblematic since it's free and registration takes about 5 mins.

Then you'll have to somehow get the media... if you are in DECUServe, simply go to openvmshobbyist.com and order a media kit - costs 30$.

Finally licenses are necessary. That's why you'll have to register at DECUServe - you can have yourself a license made on openvmshobbyist.com if you enter your DECUServe ID + CPU serial no.

For installing... we'll see (the kit isn't there yet)

And Linux on DEC - if it helps the machines survive, why not?

[Bella]

Ah-ha, that does sound surprisingly simple. I've always wondered, since I once heard (from another acquaintance who does large-scale system computing as a hobby) how difficult it can be to obtain a hobby license for an otherwise commercial system. Of course, in this case the person in question was trying to get a hold of a some sort of IBM mainframe OS, which means going through a dozen layers of corporate bureaucracy... the last I heard, he gave up when he couldn't even find a customer service rep to talk to.

Long story short: I'm glad HP is more reasonable when it comes to licensing VMS, and that they actually make it somewhat easy for non-commercial users to obtain. VMS has been called a dying system before, but as long as it's fulfilling its niche - however small - among commercial users, is available to hobbyists, and public-access systems exist, I don't see how it can die.

[Paul]

Hmm... it isn't exactly HP that is so nice towards hobbyists (they wanted to shut down the hobbyist project several times), but rather the VMS developers, who I heard are quite mighty in the corporate structure.

[Paul]

Here we go!


that white/black box is a Storageworks BA362 SCSI enclosure with 2 disks in it




first power up!

[Bella]

Oh shit, I had no idea HP nearly pulled the plug on the VMS hobbyist program. I think that would have been disastrous for its future, it's usually the hobbyists who are the last to give up on an OS or computer system. (Since they have emotional / sentimental / recreational investment in it, as opposed to corporate users, who think in terms of the bottom line when it comes to keeping or abandoning a system.) If companies were the only ones who could legally use VMS, the public access sites would go away, and private users who want to install it on their own machines and emulators wouldn't be able to... ugh, I don't even like thinking about it, the ways corporations try to undermine their own products is sickening. (Especially when it's something as unique and well-designed as VMS).

But anyway.... nice pics! I'm not very familiar with Alphas (PDPs and VAXen have been the focus of my DEC research), so i was expecting to see a much larger computer. I'm also quite surprised that it has a floppy and CDR drive.

[svx]

Retrocomputing related -

I'm using an IBM Model M keyboard hardwired with a PS2 cable instead of its original (wtf is it?) serial interface... Feels lovely

It's an experiment to see which microswitches I should get with Das Keyboard...  Decided against a Steelseries 6gv2, since it's slightly smaller than I'm used to

@Paul  That's hot

[Paul]

@svx: I'd take the Cherry Blues that come with the keyboard if you can stand the noise (quiet, it really isn't )