Neil Franklin's Computers Page

I have had experiences with quite a few computers

Columbia Commander 924, at MNG, from 1981.11 to 1984.04

main processor Z80-4, 64k RAM, 2*160k floppy
terminal processor Z80-4, 32k RAM, 512x256 B/W graphics
OS UCSD p system, languages first UCSD Pascal on main processor
then Z80 Assembler on terminal processor

Sharp EL-5100, at home, from 1983.?? to 198x.??

Programmable Calculator, algorithmic, 80+80+70Bytes

Dragon 32, at home, from 1984.05 to 1985.04 + 1992.?? to today

6809, 32k RAM, TV 256x192 9 color graphics, audio tape
OS and language MS Basic, then 6809 Assembler

Hewlett-Packard 33E, at SR, from 1984.?? to 1986.09

Programmable Calculator, RPN, 56+49Bytes

Prime 750, at SR, from 1984.08 to 1986.09

Minicomputer, dual terminals per workplace (Televideo(?) text and Westward 19" B/W graphics)
OS Primos, application Medusa CAD (2D)

Multitech MPF-1P and Intertec Superbrain, at BMS, from 1985.04 to 1986.03

MPF-1P Z80, 4k RAM, custom interface, run Lift controller
Superbrain Z80, 64k RAM, 2*400k floppy, used for edit/assemble

Commodore C64, at home, from 1985.05 to 1987.12

6502-1, 64k RAM, video monitor 320x200 16 color, 1*170k floppy
OS and language CBM Basic
then 6502 Assembler and FIG Forth

Hewlett-Packard 41CV, at home, from 1986.?? to today

Programmable Calculator, RPN, 2233Bytes

DEC PDP-11 and DEC VAX, at TWI, from 1987.10 to 1989.09

Minicomputer, VT 220 terminals, terminal server, Ethernet
OS RSX-11 and VMS, language DEC/VAX Pascal

Taiwan PC/AT Clones, at home, from 1988.01 to today

80286-12, 1M RAM, Tseng 3000 800x600 16 color, 14" monitor, 40MB HD (MFM)
then 80386-16, 4MB RAM, Tseng 4000 1152x864, 100MB HD (SCSI)
then 2000MB HD, 8MB RAM, 17" monitor, ATI Mach 32
then Cx468DX/4-100+16MB RAM, +16MB RAM
old 386 parts reassembled to use as backup machine
then 21" monitor, Matrox Millennium 8MB
then AMD K6-2/350+64MB RAM, 8500MB HD
old 486 parts reassembled to use as 2nd backup machine
then K6-2/350 extended to 192M RAM, 2 73G disks
then 486 upgrade with second AMD K6-2/350+128M and old 8.5G disk
OS MS-DOS 3.3, languages Turbo Pascal, MS Quick C, MS Quick Basic, 8086 Assembler, then Linux 1.0.8 Slackware, 1.2.9 SUSE Slackware, 2.0.27 Debian rex/1.2, 2.2.13 Slackware 7, 2.4.22 Debian woody/3.0, 2.4.22 Slackware 9.1, 2.4.26 Slackware 10

c't TEK4/8 Transputer, at home, from 1988.03 to 1991.12

first T414 processor and 1M RAM, then T800, then 2M RAM
OS none, boots directly user software, language Occam 2, then Helios (Unix clone)

Hewlett-Packard 28C, at home, from 1988.09 to 1992.??

Programmable Calculator, RPL, 2kByte

TWI TK-51, at TWI, from 1989.05 to 1989.06

8051 single chip computer, trainings kit
as semester project debugged hardware, wrote monitor, language 8051 Assembler

c't EPAC-68008, at TWI, from 1989.09 to 1989.10

68008, 32k RAM, 2*RS232 single board computer
as diploma project wrote BIOS/OS for existing Atari ST monitor, language 68k Assembler

Taiwan PC/AT Clone, at CSD, from 1990.02 to 1990.04

80286, 1MB RAM, diskless, Ethernet, Novell 2.xx
OS MS-DOS 3.3, language C

IBM PS/2 Model 80, at SI, from 1990.04 to 1990.09

386DX16, 2MB RAM, 300MB HD (ESDI), HP ScanJet, PostScript Laser
OS MS-DOS 3.3/Win 2.11, language dBase IV

Taiwan PC/AT Clone, at SI, from 1990.10 to 1994.09

386DX33, 4MB RAM, 100MB HD (IDE), Laserwriter II, Localtalk
OS MS-DOS 5.0/Win 3.0, language Dbase 4, then C
1992.05 tested OS/2 2.0 on it, needed 8M RAM, no hi-res video drivers
1992.07 dropped OS/2 because no DECnet drivers and no X terminal emulator, switched to DOS 5.0/Win 3.1

Hewlett-Packard 48S(X), at home, from 1991.?? to 1996/7.??

Programmable Calculator, RPL, 32kByte

NeXT NeXTcube+NeXTdimension, at home, from 1991.07 to 1996.04

68040-25 + 80860-33, 24+8MM RAM, 400MB HD (SCSI)
OS NeXTstep 2.1, language Objective-C
then NeXTstep 3.2

DEC VAXstation 4000VLC, at SI, from 1992.07 to 1994.09

X terminal emulator on the 386DX33 Win 3.1, Ethernet, DECnet
OS VMS 5.5, languages Fortran 77 and C
1992.09 Internet, over DECnet, via IF X.25 to ETHZ, only email

Hewlett-Packard 100LX, at home, from 1993.08 to today

Handheld Computer / Palmtop, 80186-9, 1MB RAM, 640x200 16 gray levels, 10MB FlashDisk
OS MS-DOS 5.0
used 99% as note taker, changed my life style completely

IBM PC110, at home, from 1997.02 to 1999.04

486SX-33, 20MB RAM, 640x480 256 color 4.7", 85MB FlashDisk, PCMCIA Ethernet
OS PC-DOS 7.0
then Linux 2.0.27 Debian

Internet server, at CCW, from 1997.05 to 1998.09

486DX-33, 8MB RAM, 400MB HD (IDE)
OS Linux 2.0.27, WU-FTP, Apache httpd, ssh

SGI Indy, at ETHZ CAAD, from 1998.02 to 1999.12

MIPS R4600-100, 64MB RAM, 500+2000MB HD, 17" Monitor
OS Irix 5.3

Sun SparcServer 1000, at ETHZ CAAD, from 1998.02 to 2002.04

UltraSparc I, Sun4d, 128MB RAM, Sparc Storage Array, 21*1000MB+8*2000MB HD, 10+100MBit/s Ethernet, 19" Monitor
OS Solaris 2.51, then Solaris 2.7, then Solaris 2.6

SGI Origin 200, at ETHZ CAAD, from 1998.02 to 2002.04

2*MIPS R10000-180, 128MB RAM, 2*2000MB+2*8500MB HD, VT220
then 256MB RAM, +2*34000MB HD
OS Irix 6.4, then Irix 6.5

2*Sun UltraEnterprise2, at ETHZ CAAD, from 1998.03 to 2002.04

each 2*UltraSparcII, Sun4u, 256MB RAM, Enterprise Storage Array, first 6*8500MB + second 4*8500MB HD, 2*100MBit/s Eth, 17" Moni
then first 4*34000MB HD + second all 10*8500MB HDs
OS Solaris 2.6

DEC VAXstation 3100M38, at home, from 1998.08 to 2002.11

VAX Processor (3.8 VUPS), 24MB RAM, 100+600MB HD, TK50, SPX Video, 20" monitor
OS VAX/VMS 5.5-1

SGI Origin 200, at ETHZ Arch, from 1999.10, to 2002.04

2 Chassis, 2*2*MIPS R12000-270, 2*512MB RAM, 2*8500+2*3*17000MB HD 2*1000MBit/s Ethernet, Indy 5000 as console terminal
OS Irix 6.5

SGI Indy 5000, at ETHZ Arch, from 1999.12 to 2000.04

MIPS R5000-150, 160MB RAM, 4000MB HD, 17" Monitor
OS Irix 6.5

SGI O2, at ETHZ Arch, from 2000.05 to 2002.04

MIPS R5000-200, 128MB RAM, 2000MB HD, 17" Monitor
OS Irix 6.5

DEC VT100 Terminal, at home, from 2000.10 to 2004.01

ASCII/ANSI video terminal, 8080+Z80, RS232, DEI Retro-Graphics VT640 enhancement
OS none (embedded device)

DEC Pro 350, at home, from 2000.10 to 2001.11

PDP11 Processor F-11, 512k RAM, 20MByte HD, dual 5 174" Floppy, B/W 12" video monitor
OS P/OS

Compaq Deskpro 4000, at ETHZ Arch, from 2000.11 to 2002.04

Pentium, 48MB RAM, 1.5GB HD
OS Linux 2.2.17 Debian

DEC VT220 Terminal, at home, from 2001.11 to 2004.01

ASCII/ANSI Videoterminal, 8051, RS232
OS none (embedded device)

SGI Indy 5000 (the one 6 above), at home, from 2002.04 to today

MIPS R5000-150, 160MB RAM, 4000MB HD, 17" Monitor
OS Irix 6.5.13

Dalco Athlon, at ETHZ Phys, from 2002.05 to 2006.12

AMD AthlonXP 1700+ 1.45(?)GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD
then Shuttle Barebone, AMD AthlonXP 2600+ 1.9GHz
OS Linux 2.4.23 Debian

Apple //e, at home, from 2002.11 to 2004.01

6502, 48kB RAM, 10MB HD, 3 FDs, TV Monitor

Lear Siegler ADM-3A Terminal, at home, from 2003.04 to 2004.01

ASCII Videoterminal, RS232
OS none (pure hardware, no processor)

IBM Thinkpad T40p, at home, from 2004.04 to today

Intel Pentium-M 1.6GHz, 512M RAM, 80G HD, 14" LCD
then external monitor 21", 100G HD, old 80G in USB Box, 2nd 100G USB, external Monitor 15", 4*300G USB, 4*400G USB

Northtec MicroClient Jr, at home, from 2007.01 to today

SiS 550 "Vortex86", 128M RAM, 32M CF (boot) and 160M HD

Tektronix LT-ACS Model DP84, at home, from 2007.04 to today

LCD Terminal, 8085, RS232-like with Power over Serial
OS none (embedded device)

Multitech Micro-Professor MPF-1P, at home, from 2008.03 to today

Z80 microprocessor trainings kit with ASCII + 20*14seg with cash register printer, Z80PIO+Z80CTC card, 6522 card OS ROM Monitor mit Zeilenassembler

Hewlett-Packard 25C, at home, from 2009.09 to today

Programmable Calculator, RPN, 56+49Bytes

Hewlett-Packard 20S, at home, from 2009.09 to today

Programmable Calculator, algorithmic, 80+99Bytes

I have today at home

Dragon 32

in archive, runnable but colours defect

Hewlett-Packard 41CV

in productive use

Taiwan PC/AT Clones, 3 of them (386-16 and 2 K6-2/350)

386 in archive, defective HD, was Linux 2.0.27
K6-2 both runnable for monthly backup, Linux 2.4.26

Hewlett-Packard 100LX

in archive, runnable, MS-DOS 5.0

SGI Indy 5000

in archive, runnable, OS Irix 6.5.13

IBM Thinkpad T40p

in productive use, main system, Linux 2.4.33.3

Northtec MicroClient Jr

in productive use, netbackup server,Linux 2.4.26

Tektronix LT-ACS Model DP84

in archive, DC/DC converter defective

Multitech Micro-Professor MPF-1P

in archive, runnable

Hewlett-Packard 25C

in archive, runnable

Hewlett-Packard 20S

in productive use

This page is by Neil Franklin, last modification 2010.03.06