Gumby: Hello all!!!
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changed username to Ian Primus
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changed username to <undefined> Ian Primus: hello
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changed username to Rich Drushel Ian Primus: hello Rich Drushel: Hi Ian. Rich Drushel: Hi also to whoever is still showing up as <undefined> :-)
<undefined> left chat session Ian Primus: hmm, I guess you scared them off Rich Drushel: <undefined> just disappeared... Rich Drushel: :-) Rich Drushel: Say, did you get my message about the tape drive swap? Ian Primus: yeah, I am still deciding what to do about that, someone else offered me some replacement wheels Rich Drushel: Whichever you wish to do...just trying to make it a little easier on you, as that liquid rubber is hard to get rid of. Rich Drushel: Being in a biology department, I have access to lots of neat organic solvents :-) Ian Primus: I should probably just swap with you, because I am likely to break something in the process of repair Rich Drushel: Not to impugn your skill... Ian Primus: You have done it before - I haven't. It isn't a matter of skill, it's a matter of experiance Rich Drushel: Well, with the ADAM, sometimes you have to just dive right in. Rich Drushel: Fortunately for us, the rest of the world doesn't value ADAMs like Apple Is or Imsais...so there are still plenty of cheap replacements available. Ian Primus: what do you want in exchange for the working drive? Rich Drushel: Just the old one...I have some electrically dead drives with good wheels. Rich Drushel: I can clean up yours and put a new wheel on it, and we'll both get a working drive out of it. Rich Drushel: I can even send first so you're sure of getting something working. Ian Primus: ok, that sounds like a good trade :) I was worried about repair costs. I have next to no money :) Ian Primus: and what few bucks I have, I am planning on using to buy blank 60 minute tapes Rich Drushel: We look out for each other around here...no repair costs from me :-) Rich Drushel: Well, you're still in school, aren't you? So saving those $$$ is especially important. Ian Primus: great - I'll pack up the drive and ship it out tomarrow - can you email me your address? Ian Primus: I'm 16. Every buck matters Rich Drushel: Sure...and you can E-mail me yours. I'm drushel@apk.net; you're ian_primus@yahoo.com, or something like that, right? Ian Primus: yup, that's the address. I'll go ahead and email you real quick
moved to room Meeting Place Rich Drushel: I just sent off mine...
changed username to scott Rich Drushel: Scott...Gordon? scott: The one and only... scott: How's everyone??? Rich Drushel: Hey, Joan mailed off your shirt this morning. scott: Yay!!! Rich Drushel: Hot and hotter and even hotter than that... Rich Drushel: It must have been 90+ here in Cleveland today, with 80% humidity. Rich Drushel: My office is not air-conditioned...bleh. scott: Next time, I'll try to come to the convention so I can show off my new ADAMCon Tshirt! Rich Drushel: :-) We'd be happy to see you in Michigan, that's for sure! scott: School just got out last week. Rich Drushel: Classes start here in 3 weeks... scott: The last week was pure hell.
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changed username to BobSlopsema Rich Drushel: Hope you survived with good GPA or equivalent... BobSlopsema: HI CUTIES!!!! BobSlopsema: ;-) scott: Oh yeah. Straight A's once again. scott: What's up Bob? Rich Drushel: I'm only a cutie for Joan, Bob :-) Rich Drushel: Way to go, Scott!! BobSlopsema: that figures...... scott: It wasn't easy, that's for sure. scott: I'm working toward that doctorate, Rich! Rich Drushel: Just got the Addictus disk and request for scanned schematic...gotta unpack my stuff to get at the newsletter, but I'll do it soon. Ian Primus: Rich - my mail client won't let me send, I'll have to reboot, but I'll get it to you Rich Drushel: No prob, Ian. Ian Primus: after the chat that is Rich Drushel: We need more ADAM Doctors...it's lonely. BobSlopsema: da sky!!!! Rich Drushel: Dr. S. and Dr. D. sounds good to me! Rich Drushel: Or rather Dr. G. BobSlopsema: thanks Rich, I can NOT find the copy I had the front desk make me ANYWHERES!!! Rich Drushel: Cause I'm not Dr. R. scott: Actually, it'll be Dr.D and Dr.G, in several years, mind you... Rich Drushel: Vanishing ink, no doubt. Rich Drushel: Well, Bob, the bank closed out the ADAMcon XIII account with no problems, and no bounced checks...so I'm happy. scott: I need to learn some more ADAM related stuff. scott: Like repairing ADAMs and so forth. BobSlopsema: heck ya'll din't WRITE any checks did you????? scott: However, there's always the emulator. Rich Drushel: No checks written...'cause neither the hotel nor the food guy would take a check drawn on the account! Rich Drushel: "Bank check only" (cost $5 to have it made). Rich Drushel: But, they liked plastic...so I gave 'em plastic. BobSlopsema: bummer!!!! NOW HEAR THIS !!!!!! maybe next year, the checks wil lhave to written to me personally just to get around this bank issue Rich Drushel: Closing the account was just an internal transfer to my normal checking account. Rich Drushel: Well, we trust *you*, Bob :-) BobSlopsema: dat's SWELL Rich! Rich Drushel: Historically, it was good PR to have a convention account. Rich Drushel: At least no first-order fears of it going right into a scammer's pocket. Rich Drushel: But if the vendors won't take business-account checks...there's no point. scott: How's the ANN disks coming along, Bob? Rich Drushel: Even Herman was very surprised at this...at ADAMcon VIII, checks on the convention account were no problem. scott: If I have some time before classes start, I will put up some of The ADAM Resource. BobSlopsema: coming along..........out everymonth and o the website. maybe I will start putting them in ADAMem format so anyone can read them, not just IF you possess and ADAM and BobSlopsema: ADAMem scott: Time, though, is the only factor.
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changed username to Guy B. Guy B.: Greetings!!! Rich Drushel: Just had E-mail from Richard Clee...he can't get into the chat, again. Rich Drushel: Hi Guy. scott: Hi scott: Guy Guy B.: Hey Scott, how's everything going? scott: Very good. Just finished my Cisco I and Local Area Networks classes scott: Got A's in both. scott: Now someone pass me the oxygen mask! Rich Drushel: We need a PPP client for the Z80 :-) Ian Primus: I'm takeing Cisco networking classes this year scott: Oooooh... BobSlopsema: HI GUY!!!! scott: Great. Are you going to take all 4 semesters? Guy B.: That's great. What's next for you now? scott: Some of the guys at my job are just taking the test -- no classes. Ian Primus: no, It's only a 2 semester class - high school. I'm 16 Ian Primus: but it is 2 periods a day Guy B.: HI Bob, I'm ending my membership with Corecomm on Sept. 1st. scott: Next I have Cisco Semester 2, then Unix Administration. Guy B.: Looks like a full load for you. scott: Can you get certified after taking both? Rich Drushel: All you need for Unix Administration is one command: rm -rf *.* BobSlopsema: I think that I will go to Netzero Also GUY! scott: Next semester will be a killer. The instructor for Unix Administration has quite a reputation. scott: Doh! Ian Primus: (PRIVATE) thanks a lot for the two ADAM tapes. Rich Drushel has offered to swap Data Drives with me, so I should be able to use them soon! Rich Drushel: If you haven't already read 'em, look up the "Bastard Operator From Hell" article series. Hilarious. Guy B.: I signed up over the weekend. BobSlopsema: for $10 let me know how you like it...the thing Iwant rid of is the banner bar and I want to keep the speed BobSlopsema: up that Core has scott: Sounds funny. BobSlopsema: you are welcome Ian, got to get you moving here!!!!! scott: You Cisco certified, Rich? Rich Drushel: Written by an Australian sysadmin named Simon something-or-other... Rich Drushel: Me, nah. Never had any need to go near a router. Rich Drushel: I'd learn if I had to, so far I don't. Guy B.: The banner ads are gone. Only a thin toolbar and the pages do indeed load faster. And the best part, none of the those popup ads. Rich Drushel: No time for running test networks at home :-) scott: For me, since I don't have the degree, it's good for job security. BobSlopsema: you let me know how you like it next week GUY! Rich Drushel: Yes, in your shoes, it's pretty obligatory. Ian Primus: I have had some experiance fiddleing inside my Cisco router when we had DSL, then the company went bankrupt so I am back to modem, and the router is in the closet scott: When the company looks at skills and realize that I have Cisco and Unix and web design and a few programming languages... Rich Drushel: So far in my professional career, most of the machines I've had to "administer" are just for me. Guy B.: I ran it already on Monday. I love it. And I don't have to worry about those disconnection boxes. scott: It gives me at least a chance. Rich Drushel: The robot lab Macs really don't count...but fortunately, nobody writes viruses for Macs, so administering them is a breeze. scott: Today they laid off 4 people in my group. Very depressing.
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changed username to <undefined> scott: I was surprised I made the cut. Rich Drushel: Ouch! Hope you're not next! Guy B.: That must have been tough for you. BobSlopsema: KISS UP Scott BobSlopsema: "undefined"....is that you Richard Clee?????? scott: Sucked. Big time! Rich Drushel: It ain't me masquerading, this time :-) scott: Nobody knows... BobSlopsema: A MYSTERY!!!!!!!! scott: May be undefined for quite some time... Rich Drushel: It seems that our Canadian contingent is having problems connecting the last couple times. Guy B.: Come out, Come out. Identify yourself. scott: Mr. X. Rich Drushel: What is your name? What is your quest? What is the capital of Assyria? scott: Oooh my.
<undefined> left chat session scott: How long did it take you to get your doctorate, Rich? Rich Drushel: Long time :-) scott: When did you finish? Guy B.: Well, we lost Ian as well as the undefined. Rich Drushel: 1987-1992.
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changed username to <undefined> scott: Is that not counting your bachelors and masters? Rich Drushel: One year of classes, then I took my qualifying exams. scott: Is that five years after obtaining your Masters?
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changed username to Ian Primus Guy B.: There he is. Rich Drushel: Not counting undergrad...and I don't have a M.S. M.S. is a "terminal" degree in biology these days. scott: Mr. Undefined strikes again... Ian Primus: sorry about that, netscape crashed Rich Drushel: Usually you go from B.A./B.S. straight to Ph.D. Guy B.: I have Netscape and I hardly crash. scott: Really? I thought you need to go through Masters to get to your Ph.D. scott: Shows you how much I know... Rich Drushel: I got out a little quicker (only 1 year of classes, not 2) because I already had taken 2 years of the M.D. curriculum. Ian Primus: same here, this was one of thos rare crashes Rich Drushel: And also done an undergrad research project which resulted in 2 published papers with me as first author. scott: And here I am, working on an associates talking about a Ph.D. scott: Hah! Ian Primus: Rich - I managed to get that email to send - did you get it? scott: Where would you recommend going to school, Rich? Rich Drushel: And while in med school I had already assisted with teaching 4 lab courses...so my teaching requirement was waived. scott: For graduate classes, that is. Guy B.: Scott, concentrate on what your working on now. Then decide what to do next after your certification. Rich Drushel: Grad classes in what, computers? Rich Drushel: Depends what you want to do...
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changed username to <undefined> Rich Drushel: In computer science, Ph.D. is pretty much an academic/research track. scott: Computer Science/Engineering. Rich Drushel: Computer engineering, there are still industry employment possibilities. Rich Drushel: If you have the ability, I would recommend CE over CS by a wide margin. scott: Definitely Computer Science with something else. scott: Berkeley has a EE/CS program that's pretty hard to get into. Rich Drushel: Engineering keeps you honest, as the hardware can't be fooled. scott: Which means no less than straight A's for me! Rich Drushel: CS is "soft". Guy B.: I bet you can do that Scott.
<undefined> left chat session Rich Drushel: M.S. in CS is often a lazy programmer track for people who don't want to leave college yet :-) scott: I've just finished my fourth semester, 11 classes in all. Rich Drushel: At least that's what I see here at CWRU. Rich Drushel: And with all the dot-com crashes, there are too many CS types around. scott: Got 9 more for my associates, 3 more semesters of Cisco, and a few more sprinkled here and there for various certificates... scott: Yikes! Rich Drushel: So if you do get a job in CS, it will be mostly as a programmer, and they will work you a zillion hours... Rich Drushel: ...and throw you away when your skill set doesn't match the current buzzwords. Rich Drushel: CE is more resistant to that. scott: Gotcha. Microsoft's trying to kill off Java. Imagine all of those pissed of CS majors who invested all of their time in Java... Rich Drushel: Yep. scott: If I put a little CE under my belt, maybe we could create some cool new products for the ADAM! Rich Drushel: Programmers are literally falling into the same job pool as secretaries... Guy B.: Now your're talking. scott: ADAM laptop? Rich Drushel: ADAM is a great platform for CE hardware design...your Dad would agree, I think. scott: It's also a great platform to tinker with, since there's a lot of technology it doesn't or can't use. Rich Drushel: Could be done...we need a hotshot with a 'scope to figure out what the MIOC really does...and then put it into a programmable gate array of our own making. scott: Simple things we take for granted on a PC, like video cards, CD-ROMs, etc. Rich Drushel: Then everything else is clonable. scott: Hmmmm' Rich Drushel: Another option, one which Dale Wick has resisted, is to throw in the towel and just start emulating stuff. scott: The emulator is a great tool. Rich Drushel: Create virtual hardware, assigned to I/O ports in the emulator, and have at it. scott: True. scott: Swap files back/forth between IBM/ADAM Rich Drushel: Then you could have a 640 x 480 true-color screen, no color bleeds...
moved to room Meeting Place scott: Mr. Undefined, yet again... Rich Drushel: Serial, parallel, any device you want via the ADAMnet interface. Rich Drushel: All emulated. Ian Primus: I have heard of a program called ADAMserve - has anyone used it?
changed username to Vic Dyck Vic Dyck: Hello, all. scott: Hello Rich Drushel: ADAMserve, I wrote it :-) Ian Primus: hello vic Rich Drushel: Hi Vic. Guy B.: HI Vic. BobSlopsema: HI VIC Vic Dyck: Hi Ian, good to finally "meet ya Guy B.: I've used it. Rich Drushel: What have you heard about ADAMserve, Ian? scott: Well guys, good talking with you. My girlfriend's looking at me. I think she want to get something to eat. Rich Drushel: (Before I give a possibly unnecessary 25-cent tour.) Ian Primus: that it allows you to use a PC as storage for the ADAM scott: Must feed my lovely girlfriend Ligia! Guy B.: Glad you came Scott. See you again soon. Rich Drushel: So long, Scott...take a break from classes if you can...hope the PHB's axe doesn't fall on you! Ian Primus: I have read the "This Week With My Coleco ADAM" articles scott: Will come again next Wednesday, since I have it off. scott: We'll talke some more later about school, Rich. scott: Bye.
scott left chat session Rich Drushel: TWWMCA has a pretty detailed description of ADAMserve in various articles.
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changed username to Geoff Geoff: Howdy all. Ian Primus: hello Geoff Rich Drushel: The basic idea was to emulate PC hardware over a serial link as genuine ADAMnet devices. Guy B.: I'm getting an old Compac P120 ready for Adamserve after my 486 died. Vic Dyck: Hi Geoff Guy B.: Oh my gosh. That you Geoff? BobSlopsema: HI Geoff!!!! Rich Drushel: Hello Geoff...boy, none of our Canadians can get connected tonight. Guy B.: How are you doing? Vic Dyck: I got in okay, Rich Drushel: Just had mail from Pamela Clee, she too is blocked. Ian Primus: I have an XT I am planning on using - will it run on it? Rich Drushel: It was designed to run on XTs, because they were becoming a dime a dozen in 1995. Rich Drushel: My development system was an original PC-XT, full-height floppy and full-height MFM hard drive. Guy B.: I managed to take two 360K disk drives off an old XT and used them in the 486 and it worked perfectly. Now, those drives are in the Compac, but I have to do some work on it. At least it does work. Rich Drushel: The main problem has been patching existing ADAM software to not try to bypass the operating system and write directly to what it thinks is the hardware. Ian Primus: heh - I have one just like that, and the original PC - 5 ISA slots, two full height floppy drives, and a cassette port Guy B.: Wow, the early PC's. Rich Drushel: The emulation layer is relatively high in the OS (because there's not enough room in the 8K allocated to EOS to emulate at the lowest level). Vic Dyck: man, I thought I dated myself talking about VEISA buses Rich Drushel: As long as your program uses EOS function calls to talk to hardware, ADAMserve works fine. Ian Primus: what operating systems are there for the ADAM? Rich Drushel: If you bit-bang I/O ports, it misses the redirect to the PC. Rich Drushel: There are 3 ADAM operating systems: Rich Drushel: OS-7, the ColecoVision game OS. Rich Drushel: EOS, the ADAM operating system under which SmartWriter and SmartBASIC run. Rich Drushel: CP/M (and an ADAM-specific clone called TDOS), which was the "standard" OS for Z80 computers. Rich Drushel: ADAMserve runs under EOS. Rich Drushel: Technically, CP/M and TDOS could be patched to do the same thing... Ian Primus: now CP/M I am familliar with (I used to be a big TRS-80 user) Guy B.: There is a fourth OS and that one is Smartdsk that was developed by Jim Walters. Rich Drushel: But nobody has original source for CP/M. Rich Drushel: And the source for TDOS is so badly designed on the inside that it's just about impossible to change. Rich Drushel: IMHO, of course. Ian Primus: is EOS in ROM? Rich Drushel: Yes. Ian Primus: how do I access it? Rich Drushel: There is no DOS-style command interpreter for EOS. Ian Primus: ah Rich Drushel: If you run a tape/disk app, booted from the ADAM reset switch, it comes up under EOS. Rich Drushel: Want to hear the ADAM cold boot sequence, Ian? Guy B.: Smartwriter runs under EOS too. Ian Primus: sure Rich Drushel: Okay... Rich Drushel: ADAM reset forces a jump to address 0 in the SmartWriter ROM. Rich Drushel: Code here resets the video subsystem, then looks for a boot ROM on a card in the center expansion slot. Rich Drushel: There are 2 magic ID bytes in a bootable center-slot ROM; if it finds these, it jumps to the boot ROM. Rich Drushel: If no center-slot boot ROM, Rich Drushel: copy EOS from its own ROM to its final location in the high 8K of RAM. Rich Drushel: Then jump to an EOS function (accessed through a jump table) called EOS_START. Rich Drushel: EOS_START initializes ADAMnet and starts looking for a tape or disk drive to boot something from. Rich Drushel: It looks in the order tape 1, tape 2, disk 1, and disk 2. Rich Drushel: "Looking" means trying to load block 0 from a tape/disk in the drive. Guy B.: Rich correct me if I'm wrong. Doesn't it boot to disk 1, disk 2 then tape 1 tape 2? Rich Drushel: Yes, Guy, you're right: disks first. BobSlopsema: ONLY and only IF a disk drive or 2 is hooked up Guy B.: Right! BobSlopsema: ADAM "knows" if it has diesk drives hooked up or not BobSlopsema: disk drives too..... ;-) Rich Drushel: If a block 0 can be found, it will be loaded to a specified address in RAM, below EOS (I think its $C800), and then jump to the start of that code. Rich Drushel: This is how SmartBASIC e.g. gets loaded...the block 0 code has the responsibility for loading the rest of the app. BobSlopsema: Whick (not ot change subjects) is EXACTLY how ADAM knows ho to boot Tdos, or a H.D, or any disk which is self booting Rich Drushel: If no disks or tapes or found, or no media are inserted, EOS_START executes a JP GOTO_WP, which executes SmartWriter in ROM. Rich Drushel: That's why, Ian, your ADAM runs SmartWriter when it can't load anything from the tape drie. Rich Drushel: drive, that is. Rich Drushel: Any questions, y'all? :-) BobSlopsema: no SIR! Guy B.: You said it all, Rich. Rich Drushel: Keep me on my toes, like Guy did! Ian Primus: cool, what things were available for the center slot? BobSlopsema: Ian, have you toyed with the little momentary switch on the left side of the printer??? Rich Drushel: Ph.D. don't make me right :-) BobSlopsema: the one that the print head bumps when it goes left??? Ian Primus: no Geoff: Sorry if I'm a little lagged... I'm trying to multitask. ;) Geoff: Trying to pay bills and type at the same time. Ian Primus: I did that self test thing with a screw driver, and it worked fine. It banged out some nice clear text Guy B.: Aren't we all. I was printing 80 tags when I got on. They're all done. BobSlopsema: when the print head goes. to the left, it should bump the switch, which then sends the print head mechanism to the right about an inch or two Ian Primus: yeah, that part works BobSlopsema: hmmmm, Rich Clee's little test??? Geoff: Did you ever get any activity on the Printer via the computer? Ian Primus: no Ian Primus: none at all BobSlopsema: OK, just HOW are you trying to type??? BobSlopsema: when you turn ADAM on and start typing, he should put it to paper........ BobSlopsema: IF you push the ESC/WP key, you are in word processor mode instead of typewriter mode, then after you type something , you hit the PRINT key, then Smartkey 4 (?) Ian Primus: turn on computer, type something, hit enter. nothing happens. hit escape/wp, type something, then go into the print menu, and select print workspace, then print BobSlopsema: for print all then hit it again to make the printer print Guy B.: Smartkey Five. BobSlopsema: look into the printer by takin goff the cover on the top front.......... Geoff: Maybe the connection is bad... Check continuity on the purple/blue wires to/from printer. BobSlopsema: do you see a purple wire there? BobSlopsema: possibly cut???? BobSlopsema: someone may have cut the wire to stoop the annoying reset of the printer every time you reboot the ADAM Rich Drushel: Just had E-mail from Rich Clee...he can't get in, so he's giving up. Geoff: Could also be a bad op-amp too, if the circuit is anything like the disk drive/data drive ADAMNet circuitry BobSlopsema: I told him to holler at Dale Guy B.: That happens to Rich Clee too often. Rich Drushel: The message Rich is getting suggests that Dale has changed a firewall or something, or else Rich's ISP is now blocking the TCP port used by the chat protocol. Ian Primus: no, the purple wire is intact Rich Drushel: Maybe Dale needs to reboot his server...I don't know what kind of machine is hosting it. Guy B.: He suppose to do that once a month. BobSlopsema: does the printer reset itself every time you pull the reset computer switch???? Ian Primus: yeah Geoff: okay, then the adamnet reset line works.
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changed username to Meeka Meeka: Hello Rich Drushel: Ian, when you pull the reset switch, the head homes to the left, then takes a little jog to the right and stops, accompanied by a "ba-ding" song from SmartWriter, yes? Guy B.: HI Meeka Rich Drushel: Howdy Meeka. Ian Primus: ba-ding? I don't see a bell in there Meeka: Dad, look for that other power supply under the front window next to the little rocking chair Rich Drushel: Well, 2 musical notes played out the speaker. Rich Drushel: No internal bell in the printer, correct. Guy B.: Make sure your sound is on. BobSlopsema: OK Ian Primus: how do I hook a speaker up to the ADAM? I can't find an audio output jack
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changed username to Vic Dyck Rich Drushel: Are you using a TV or a monitor? Guy B.: There isn't. Vic Dyck: Sorry, fell off the server... Rich Drushel: Well, there is...but it's part of the DIN port in the back. BobSlopsema: hope ya didn't get HURT Vic..... :-) Vic Dyck: a little bumped around but nothing permanent Ian Primus: monitor Rich Drushel: Okay, so no sound without the DIN-port AV cable...I'll stick one in with the tape drive. Ian Primus: it's a color composite Apple IIc monitor. I was going to use a pair of amplified PC speakers, but I couldn't find a jack to hook them up to Rich Drushel: Meantime, you do end up with a screen which says ADAM'S ELECTRONIC TYPEWRITER, right? Ian Primus: yeah Rich Drushel: Type Control-R...does a new SmartKey appear? Rich Drushel: On screen menu, that is. BobSlopsema: DAT naughty MAM person put it under the sofa!!!
moved to room Meeting Place Meeka: ok, hust as long as you found it
changed username to james Meeka: i mean just james: wow, big group today. Guy B.: HI James, hot in Japan? james: not as hot as over there apparently. it's "only" 28 today. BobSlopsema: HIya James!!! long time no see!!!! james: hey bob, how's it going? BobSlopsema: fine james and you and the bride???? Guy B.: Bring that cool air here. We're roasting out here. Relief should hit here tomorrow. BobSlopsema: YES, hot, hot hot!!!!! Geoff: I was inside all day, so I have no idea what the temp was. james: bride? well, i don't consider her the bride after 3 years ;) Geoff: probably hot though. ;) james: don't quite consider her a nag yet though :D Meeka: 94 degress (103 with the heat index figured in) Guy B.: How long have you been married James? BobSlopsema: NEXT year, when you ALLcome to ADAMCON in Grand Rapids, we will have for your pleasure.... BobSlopsema: an AIR CONDOTIONED HOTEL!!!! james: 3 years. Rich Drushel: Yeah, AC was a bit off this past 'con. BobSlopsema: 30 years later, james....she is STILL your bride Geoff: One of these days I'm going to make it to ADAMCON Ian Primus: yeah, another smartkey appears Rich Drushel: At least in my room: it didn't work too well. Rich Drushel: What revision number does it say, Ian? BobSlopsema: plan for next year Geoff Guy B.: I had to turn that on when I got into my room, but it did work. Geoff: Whenabouts is it going to be? BobSlopsema: ours was good Rich, you were just too keyed up to notice! :-) Guy B.: If you have R80 then you have a good Smartwriter. Rich Drushel: ROTFL. james: anyways, i'd really like to stay around but i have a bunch of errands to run today. i've almost caught up so Meeka: not quite sure yet Geoff BobSlopsema: GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN james: hopefully next week i can stick around. Rich Drushel: Good to see you even for a bit, James. Meeka: we haven't even looked at hotels BobSlopsema: prolly ist part of AUGUST Ian Primus: what does r80 do? Meeka: Yet BobSlopsema: be good james! Guy B.: Good you dropped in. See you soon. Geoff: Might have to drive up there next time. Rich Drushel: It's just an Easter Egg to tell you what revision of SmartWriter you've got. james: thanks rich. too bad about rich c having trouble getting on. don't know what's happening there. BobSlopsema: revision 80 is the lastest redesign ....kinda like Bill Gates making new Ian Primus: oh, ok yeah, it says R80 BobSlopsema: versions of Windowes Meeka: james, did you solve the chicken problem??????? Rich Drushel: All the Coleco apps which have SmartKey menus have this Control-R feature. james: see you all next week. james: *poof* Guy B.: Bye James Ian Primus: cool, I'll remember that
james left chat session Ian Primus: bye james Rich Drushel: Now, Ian, when you type anything else (except the Escape/WP key), do you see text on the screen? BobSlopsema: well, dang!!! that boy is sure short with time! Rich Drushel: If your printer is working okay, what you type should show up on screen and clack out on the printer. Ian Primus: no, it doesnt Rich Drushel: Not on screen, or not on printer? Guy B.: Are you in Smartwriter mode? Rich Drushel: He isn't yet... Rich Drushel: I didn't tell him to press Escape/WP yet. Ian Primus: not on the printer, it shows up on the screen, and yes, I am in typewriter mode Guy B.: Then something is wrong if nothing is printing. Rich Drushel: Okay, last test: now press Escape/WP. This will put you into the word processor mode. Ian Primus: ok Rich Drushel: What you typed will now be editable text; but what I want you to try to do now is to print it. Rich Drushel: Press the PRINT key at the upper right, and then navigate through whatever menus show up to make it print. Ian Primus: yeah, I tried that, nothing Rich Drushel: I don't remember what the menus look like, and I don't have an ADAM running. Rich Drushel: So it says it's printing, yet it doesn't... Ian Primus: yes Rich Drushel: Boy, it sounds like a cabling problem between the ADAM and the printer. Guy B.: I believe after you press the Print key. You can press Smartkey V print Workspace then that same Smartkey for print. Rich Drushel: The only way to test that is with an ohmmeter.
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changed username to <undefined> Rich Drushel: You'd have to open up the ADAM case to expose the bottom circuit board, where the 9-pin connector is. Ian Primus: for smartkey V it says "print wk-space", then i press it, and it gives the option "print" as smartkey V, and I press it, it changes to "stop print" momentarily and then switches back Rich Drushel: Plug in the printer cable to the side of the ADAM, and then check continuity from the connector side to each terminus inside the printer. Rich Drushel: Power all off, of course. Ian Primus: ok, I'm going to get my multimeter and screwdriver Rich Drushel: The fact that your screwdriver-induced self-test works means that the printer solenoid and other circuitry is good. Rich Drushel: The online ADAM Technical Manual http://drushel.cwru.edu/atm/atm.html has the pinouts and I believe wire colors. Rich Drushel: You want to check the ADAMnet TxD and GND lines. It sounds to me like TxD is not making contact.
<undefined> left chat session Rich Drushel: As Geoff observed, the Reset line is working, since the print head is correctly homing when you pull the ADAM reset switch. Rich Drushel: Meeka, did you look at the ADAMcon composite pictures I modified from your website originals? Meeka: Not yet rich, I havebeen fairly busy this week. I will try to get to them asap Rich Drushel: No hurry, of course! Rich Drushel: Just curious if you'd peeked at 'em and if they met your standards. Rich Drushel: :-) Rich Drushel: I know all about busy this week, too... Rich Drushel: What happened at the Saturday chat, which I missed? Dale hasn't put up any new transcripts recently. Guy B.: That goes double here. Meeka: i'm sure they will look just fine Rich Rich Drushel: I was in North Carolina, finally meeting (after 8 years) my penpal from Finland.
Vic Dyck left chat session Guy B.: I'm still waiting for him to change my e-mail address for the list. Meeka: Not a whole lot Rich. I think there were 4 or 5 of us that made it in Ian Primus: I am taking my ADAM apart now, I'll be at that connection in a minute Rich Drushel: Hey, ask Meeka, she won first prize in ADAM disassembly :-) Rich Drushel: Right, Meeka? Meeka: I need him to change my e-mail to Guy Meeka: yes i did. Guy B.: Did you send it to Coladam-Admin? Meeka: I have to say though that Doug did help a little ;-) Rich Drushel: And you were pretty decent with LEGO robots, too. Rich Drushel: So now you and Doug are the defending champions... Rich Drushel: wonder if we can find any challengers... Meeka: I may not know anything about programing, but assembly is NO PROBLEM MAN Ian Primus: ooh - I am good with LEGO robots - I had a computer class that we built them in once Meeka: Rich gets to play with them for a living Ian Rich Drushel: See my course webpage at http://www.eecs.cwru.edu/courses/lego375/ Rich Drushel: I teach Autonomous Robotics at CWRU...LEGO robots for credit. Rich Drushel: The ADAMcon XIII attendees got a 4-hour version of the 1-semester course. Rich Drushel: Alas, I have to start prepping the lab for fall classes in a couple weeks. Ian Primus: cool - I am hoping to attend the convention - it's in Michigan, right> Guy B.: Well folks, I'm going to check my e-mail. Won't be able to chat on Saturday. I'm coming into work again. So, see you all next week. Rich Drushel: Good night, Guy. Meeka: bye Guy Rich Drushel: If Bob has anything to say about it, it'll be in Michigan :-)
Guy B. left chat session BobSlopsema: night Guy BobSlopsema: YES, Michigan...Grand Rapids.......VERY close Ian BobSlopsema: about say........5 hours or maybe 6 hours north Geoff: I'm busy reading scary financial messages about the company I work for, so I guess I'll run along too. :) Meeka: about 6-7 hour drive by car fron here to franklin Rich Drushel: Thanks for stopping by, Geoff. Geoff: No problemo... I'll have to remember to check in again. Lots more activity tonight than I figured. BobSlopsema: see ya Geoff Geoff: nite all! :)
Geoff left chat session BobSlopsema: and THISis a small night! BobSlopsema: I wonder if Pam and Rich are both locked out because of something in Toronto....... Rich Drushel: I bet...they have the same ISP. Ian Primus: ok, I got the computer apart, and I found the printer connection - what pin should I check Rich Drushel: Hmm...nslookup www.tamcotec.ca returns 207.176.128.154, so their ISP still exists... Rich Drushel: traceroute www.tamcotec.ca dies after 11 hops. I think their ISP has problems of some kind. Rich Drushel: Now, your pin, Ian, lemme look it up: BobSlopsema: oops! Rich Drushel: Okay, here's the pinout for the 9-pin sideport: Rich Drushel: 1 brown +12V Rich Drushel: 2 red +12V Rich Drushel: 3 orange +5V Rich Drushel: 4 yellow -5V Rich Drushel: 5 green GND Rich Drushel: 6 blue ADAMnet (this is the one) Rich Drushel: 7 violet Reset Rich Drushel: There's also a "bare" wire called a "drain" somewhere in there. Rich Drushel: The colors are the colors of the wires in the grey cable. Not sure what colors are used feeding into the 9-pin connector inside the ADAM. Rich Drushel: 8 and 9 are not connected IIRC. Rich Drushel: Isn't remote tech support fun? :-) Ian Primus: ug, I am going to have to take the ENTIRE printer apart - I can't get to the cable with just the top off Rich Drushel: Drat. Rich Drushel: Be very careful doing that...you DON'T want to undo the cable that pulls the printhead back and forth. Rich Drushel: That one is an enormous pain to get wound back on the right way. Rich Drushel: If you can give me a day, I will look at a printer here and see if I can figure out an easy way to get at the cable. BobSlopsema: should be right there in the back with connections exposed isn't it? Ian Primus: ok, that would be apprecitated Rich Drushel: There's a little metal pan covering the bottom, I think, right where you'd be wanting to look. BobSlopsema: unless they come into the bottom of the p.s. ............ BobSlopsema: sounds familiar. Rich Drushel: Don't hack into your printer tonight, Ian; let me think it over. Rich Drushel: A fresh day and a fresh brain, I ought to be able to think of something. BobSlopsema: PUT that hamemr DOWN! Ian Primus: no, wait, I figured it out, the entire circuit board just slides out BobSlopsema: ahso! BobSlopsema: Rich sasy both HE & PAM are locked out BobSlopsema: he is gonna be PI$$ED
(A dog howls in the distance) Rich Drushel: Hey, I thought Guy had left us already! Rich Drushel: He's the usual source of sound effects around here. BobSlopsema: he's not on my list.....
(A strange smell wafts around the room)
(BobSlopsema winks) Rich Drushel: Andromeda Strain! Hold your breath....oops, too late, all clotted up. Rich Drushel: Gack.
(The lights sudddenly go out) BobSlopsema: hey guys, it's past my bedtime here....and it has been HOT, so gonna rest up to face tomorrow BobSlopsema: will see ya both (and Meeka) later!!!!! Rich Drushel: Your AC overload must have made your lights go out :-) Meeka: ok. Ian Primus: got it apart Rich Drushel: G'night, Bob. BobSlopsema: yup BobSlopsema: POOF!!!!
BobSlopsema left chat session Rich Drushel: Do you see any obvious breaks, burn marks, etc.? Ian Primus: nope Rich Drushel: Hope your printer was relatively clean inside. Rich Drushel: I found a dead mouse inside one once... Rich Drushel: Perfectly mummified. Ian Primus: the blue wire is connected to the proper pin, so it's not a bad cable Rich Drushel: Can you get continuity from blue wire at printer circuit board through to the back side of the 9-pin connector on the ADAM? Meeka: ok Guys. I had better go to. Doog wants to go out. See ya later Rich Drushel: G'night Meeka (and Doug).
Meeka left chat session Ian Primus: yeah, it seems to be Rich Drushel: Sigh. Rich Drushel: I can't think of anything else that's simple. Rich Drushel: Or simple to explain how to check remotely. Rich Drushel: Do you have a clear shot at the ADAMnet interface board inside the printer? Rich Drushel: It's brown, with a metal box on it, and a bunch of wires plugging in at one edge. Ian Primus: what does that look like Rich Drushel: It may be too far underneath the platten. Rich Drushel: It's maybe 6 inches square. Ian Primus: yeah found it
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changed username to Rich Drushel Rich Drushel: Okay, I'm back...what did I miss? Ian Primus: I found the interface board Rich Drushel: Can you open the little metal box? Rich Drushel: If so, the 6801 microcontroller that runs the printer is inside it. Ian Primus: yeah, I found it Rich Drushel: It's a 50-50 shot that it's socketed rather than soldered into the board. Ian Primus: soldered Rich Drushel: If it is socketed, and geometry permits, you might consider popping it out of the socket and reseating it. Rich Drushel: If it's soldered, then that's not the problem, either... Rich Drushel: Here's an idea: Rich Drushel: a bit farfetched, though... Rich Drushel: You know that the keyboard ADAMnet connector works, because the keyboard works. Ian Primus: yeah Rich Drushel: That means that the ADAMnet TxD signal is good there. Rich Drushel: As an experiment, jumper the TxD signal from that connector over to the printer blue wire. Rich Drushel: Of course, I have to find out which of the 6-pin RJ-4x jack is TxD... Ian Primus: good idea - I'll try that tomarrow. I don't feel like soldering tonight Rich Drushel: But if that restored the printer to function, you'd know that something was wrong in the feed of the TxD signal to the 9-pin connector. Rich Drushel: I don't blame you :-) Rich Drushel: You could probably use alligator clips instead of solder. Rich Drushel: Let me see if I can find out which pin of the phone cable jack is what. Ian Primus: also I good idea, I'll get some clips tomarrow Rich Drushel: Gotta dig out a schematic...still packed away from ADAMcon XIII stuff that hasn't been unboxed since return from the hotel. Ian Primus: well, I don't want you to have to go to unnecessary trouble Rich Drushel: Well, this freebie ADAM of yours is giving you a run for your money :-) Ian Primus: true, now true Rich Drushel: This isn't trouble, it is so nice to be able to share knowledge. Rich Drushel: Have you read Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"? Ian Primus: yeah Rich Drushel: Remember what Treebeard said about the Ents: no more Entings. That's how we feel sometimes in the ADAM community. Rich Drushel: That's why someone like you is so nice for us. Rich Drushel: Entings again, to teach, and to learn from, and be motivated by. Rich Drushel: Not that you're young chronologically, Rich Drushel: but that you are a "newbie" to the ADAM. Ian Primus: actually, I think both :) Rich Drushel: :-) Rich Drushel: Newbies keep us honest. Rich Drushel: And make us do things with our ADAMs that we haven't done for a long while. Rich Drushel: So we can be Entings again, too. Rich Drushel: Well, I hate to leave you with your ADAM in pieces...but I ought to call it a night. Ian Primus: I really do appreciate the help, though, I'll get that broken DataDrive out tomarrow of the next day. I'll be sure to wrap it in a static bag and bubblewrap Rich Drushel: I will look up the connector info. Rich Drushel: Bubblewrap is fine, static bag is probably overkill :-) Ian Primus: thanks a heap for all the help, I'll mess with the ADAM tomarrow when I am more coherent Rich Drushel: I'll pull a working drive tomorrow night and box it up. Rich Drushel: Me too :-) Off to work at 5:30 AM...bleh. Ian Primus: I never knew there were so many fiddley little bits in a printer... Rich Drushel: Good night, Ian! It's been fun. Rich Drushel: haha re: printer bits. Ian Primus: thanks to you too Ian Primus: oh, btw... Rich Drushel: Starbase Cleveland closing hailing frequencies...now. Rich Drushel: oops back Ian Primus: can you copy a Datapack for me - so I can make some for my ADAM? Ian Primus: I don't have any blanks Rich Drushel: Sure...you want SmartBASIC on it? Ian Primus: I already have Smartbasic, I just need something to store programs on Ian Primus: I have only two tapes - SmartBASIC and Buck Rogers Rich Drushel: Okay, a formatted blank. I'll put one in with the drive. Ian Primus: thanks - you want me to toss in a blank cassette with mine? Rich Drushel: Nah, I got a bunch of blanks. Rich Drushel: I won't miss one (or 5 or 10) :-) Ian Primus: oh, thanks! also, is there a way to get ADAM software into the ADAM from the 'net? Rich Drushel: Only if you have a modem and serial board for the ADAM, and a place where you can download stuff using the XMODEM protocol. Rich Drushel: Not many people have TTY-like dialup access to a UNIX shell these days. Ian Primus: oh, hmm, is there a place to get type-in BASIC programs for the ADAM? Rich Drushel: Though you can use your PC to grab stuff and then null-modem it over. Rich Drushel: For type-in stuff...back issues of the ADAM News Network (ANN) Newsletter, probably. Rich Drushel: There are some of these online at http://www.adamcon.org/ Ian Primus: ok, I'll check that out, I'll see if I can find some software Rich Drushel: I haven't thought about it much, I will ask around. Rich Drushel: There are a few books about ADAMs that were published way back when, that have programs in them. Rich Drushel: You might find them through inter-library loan. Rich Drushel: Also, AppleSoft programs will work as long as they don't PEEK, POKE, or CALL. Ian Primus: what other software is available for the ADAM? like games, etc Rich Drushel: (since Apple II is 6502 CPU and ADAM is Z80, totally different) Ian Primus: I don't have any ColecoVision carts, nor have I seen any in the thrift stores Rich Drushel: There are a few games on tape like Buck Rogers: Super Donkey Kong, Super Zaxxon. Rich Drushel: There are CV games which have been converted to run from tape or disk, but you need a 64K memory expander to play them. Ian Primus: yeah, I am planning on building one, I have chips, but I don't have schematics Ian Primus: I should have asked while everyone else was here Rich Drushel: If you want to try out CV games, your best bet is to get ADAMEM and some ROM images. Ian Primus: I did:) Rich Drushel: I built a 64K expander that I designed and wirewrapped...If you'd like the schematic, I can scan it in for you. Ian Primus: that would be great - how complex is it? Rich Drushel: It takes 8 DRAMs and 2 TTL chips. Rich Drushel: It wasn't trivial...all 16-pin DIPs. Rich Drushel: So lots of address and data lines. Ian Primus: that's not bad, I can probably swipe the chips from defunct Apple IIe boards Rich Drushel: PC-XTs are a good source; the DRAMs are 4164. Rich Drushel: 150 ns or greater. Rich Drushel: The ones on the ADAM motherboard are 200 ns, I think. Ian Primus: I have about 14 PC-XT boards someone gave me - that should do it Rich Drushel: Just pulled the schematic...the other 2 chips are 74LS157. Ian Primus: I think I have some in my junk bin, but I think I can get them from Radio Shack Rich Drushel: You need 8 47-ohm resistors and 10 0.1 uF ceramic disc capacitors. Rich Drushel: Once upon a time, you could get *all* the parts (even the DRAMs) at Radio Shack. Rich Drushel: I think I bought my stuff from JDR. Ian Primus: I have lots of those little bits, I started swiping them from broken junk a year ago Ian Primus: when I got interested in electronics Rich Drushel: You can use straight 74xx series, 74LS, even 74HC. Rich Drushel: LS stuff is going to get hard to find new in a few years, as they start doing away with discrete logic. Ian Primus: I even have an ocilloscope - I don't have test probes, or know how to use it - but I have it :) Ian Primus: what is the difference between the LS and HC's Rich Drushel: Note on my schematic, it's dated 22 February 1991... Rich Drushel: HC was low-power for CMOS. Rich Drushel: LS was lower power than the original no-letter series. They keep reducing power requirements. Rich Drushel: As long as your circuit design doesn't depend upon the power dissipation (some do!), they are all interchangeable. Ian Primus: ah, so they should all be compatible in most circuits Rich Drushel: I think HC uses about 10% the power of the original 74xx stuff. Ian Primus: cool Rich Drushel: The only place where I've read about people being bitten by inexact replacements is if your power supply was not well-regulated. Rich Drushel: I.e., like a wall transformer that says +5V at 250 mA, but if you don't draw the 250 mA, it might be +8 or +9 V. Rich Drushel: If you replace 10 74xx with 10 HC, your load is much less. Ian Primus: ah, I see, but the ADAM has a regulated supply, so it doesn't matter Rich Drushel: So if you need the load to guarantee your +5V, the HC will fry everything :-) Rich Drushel: So the real old-timers have said. Rich Drushel: ADAM has a good linear power supply on all of its voltages, so load is not a problem. Rich Drushel: You can even run it off a modern surplus PC switching power supply, if you wire in the grey cable. Ian Primus: I'll have to try to build the 64k expander this week, I will have some free time soon. Is there a program to type in to test to see if it is working correctly? Rich Drushel: Hmm...SmartWriter will detect a 64K expander and use it for extra printing space. Rich Drushel: The only way you know it, though, is by the size of the document you can create before you run out of memory. Ian Primus: that could take a while - text is small Rich Drushel: A small assembly language test routine could be written to do the testing. You'd have to POKE it into RAM, then CALL it (from SmartBASIC). Rich Drushel: Let me see what I can find. Ian Primus: thanks for the help, I should probably let you get some sleep though Rich Drushel: Yeah, I ought to go now... Rich Drushel: Thanks for stopping by tonight, Ian. You're generating traffic for the chats, and that's good :-) Rich Drushel: Good night. Ian Primus: thanks, and I'll see you next wednesday, and possibly saturday! Rich Drushel: <poof> Ian Primus: good night
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