From: Bill Turlock <"Bill Turlock"@son nic.net> Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: lore Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 17:53:47 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com Lines: 50 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.tele.dk!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!sn-xit-02!sn-xit-01!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:157828 One night back in the mid 60s, the '94 at USAF GWC in the SAC U.G. shat itself and stopped. The NCOIC ran out into the main hall of the 3rd (top) floor (we weren't _that_ important) of the U.G. to the wx map plotter room, where the CE hung out. (We had 'em on-site 24/7 in those days). He came in with a deck to run some diagnostics, and all the operators went down the ramp to get a smoke ('cept me--I smoked too, but I had been so thouroughly seduced by the whole blinkenlites thing that I just had to stay to watch). Well, says he, looks like we got a bad bit in the core. I followed him back into the catacombs. He stopped at one of the many identical cabinets, produced his key ring and opened the door. Inside was a device which looked to me more like one of those large black dome-topped refrigeration units you'd see in a large commercial fridge than anything else. He explained to me (correct me if my facts and/or memory fail me) that the 7094 came in two flavors of memory--the air-cooled type and the oil-cooled variety. This one was oil-cooled, and we were looking at the vessel containing the core and the circulating oil required to keep it from overheating. Even thought we two were the only ones in the room, he looked furtively over his shoulder, dug out his keys again and opened the adjacent cabinet. He got out a piece of 2x4 lumber about 2½ feel long. He held it with one hand on an end, the other near the middle, and placed the far end next to the large black dome. Then he drew back a bit and gave the dome a smart smack with the end of the 2x4. We went back to the console to run the diagnostics again and sure enough, the bad bit had been cleared. It seems that sometimes a tiny piece of dirt, an impurity in the oil, or a sliver of solder would get lodged between the sense wires or something, and it had to be jarred loose so the filters could pick it up. On the 2x4 someone had written in black magic marker, "CORE WHOMPER". This is no sh|t, I was there. Bill ###### NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 23:55:29 -0600 From: "Russ Holsclaw" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers References: Subject: Re: lore Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 22:56:51 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 Message-ID: <6cmdnf0itJZMD3-iRVn-gg@comcast.com> Lines: 27 NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.8.170.25 X-Trace: sv3-oehVavZPwWK6hITnTA3CIwN+Tjj1vpg1vDTAPUW0h4F6PrvGnMUA37Ju2kP4tiD9+L4FSn1QgGIBpnZ!X51e6/lCtaRwsXj+nZCOSUHmFkXUuoayY5v9TbZSEBvZodnplX2RSuZqJZg= X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-DMCA-Complaints-To: dmca@comcast.net X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.1 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!ecngs!feeder.ecngs.de!216.166.71.118.MISMATCH!small1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!border3.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!intern1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nntp.comcast.com!news.comcast.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:158024 Great story! The first computer I ever wrote a program for was a '94, at the University of Maryland. Later, I became an IBM CE, but never had any contact with a 7094 in that context. I worked for the IBM "downtown" branch office in Washington, handling systems in the Federal Triangle area, i.e. around the Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue, and a few blocks around there. The '94 was a scientific/engineering machine, and nobody was doing science that close to the corridors of power (except maybe the Agriculture Department). > He explained to me (correct me if my facts and/or memory > fail me) that the 7094 came in two flavors of memory--the > air-cooled type and the oil-cooled variety. This one was > oil-cooled, and we were looking at the vessel containing the > core and the circulating oil required to keep it from > overheating. I recall that the Computer Science Center at Univ. of Maryland had a strong odor about it, which I was told was the core-memory cooling oil in the computer. It put out quite a stench. I sometimes wonder if it had PCBs in it, or something toxic like that. ###### Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: lore References: <6cmdnf0itJZMD3-iRVn-gg@comcast.com> Organization: me From: Morten Reistad X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test76 (Apr 2, 2001) Originator: mrr@via.reistad.priv.no (Morten Reistad) Message-ID: <8cnurb.hr8.ln@via.reistad.priv.no> Lines: 42 Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 12:28:08 +0100 NNTP-Posting-Host: 80.111.165.173 X-Complaints-To: abuse@chello.no X-Trace: amstwist00 1071833422 80.111.165.173 (Fri, 19 Dec 2003 12:30:22 MET) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 12:30:22 MET Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.belwue.de!newsfeed.arcor-online.net!news.tele.dk!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!newsgate.cistron.nl!amsnews01.chello.com!amstwist00.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:158035 In article <6cmdnf0itJZMD3-iRVn-gg@comcast.com>, Russ Holsclaw wrote: >Great story! The first computer I ever wrote a program for was [snip] >The '94 was a scientific/engineering machine, and nobody was >doing science that close to the corridors of power (except maybe >the Agriculture Department). > >> He explained to me (correct me if my facts and/or memory >> fail me) that the 7094 came in two flavors of memory--the >> air-cooled type and the oil-cooled variety. This one was >> oil-cooled, and we were looking at the vessel containing the >> core and the circulating oil required to keep it from >> overheating. You folks still have your PDP10 combs? For the uninitiated; PDP10s were wirewrapped constructions. Wirewraps sometimes acted up. In which case you loaded a tight loop of a diag, and dragged a comb over the backplane. Isolated the bad connections like a charm. Perhaps we can make some commemorative combs with PDP10 imagery on? >I recall that the Computer Science Center at Univ. of Maryland >had >a strong odor about it, which I was told was the core-memory >cooling >oil in the computer. It put out quite a stench. I sometimes >wonder >if it had PCBs in it, or something toxic like that. The computers built up until around 1985 generally contained lots of nasty chemicals and became extremely hazardous waste. PCB's, heavy metals (germanium transistors are particularly bad), Fortunatly they contained enough gold and copper to be worth reprocessing for a profit. -- mrr ###### NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 15:41:37 -0600 Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 15:41:37 -0600 From: fcweed User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.6b) Gecko/20031205 Thunderbird/0.4 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: lore References: <6cmdnf0itJZMD3-iRVn-gg@comcast.com> <8cnurb.hr8.ln@via.reistad.priv.no> In-Reply-To: <8cnurb.hr8.ln@via.reistad.priv.no> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: Lines: 29 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.87.146.140 X-Trace: sv3-v5C4rIKdZa0G2rtypBN5XGzAmMhLcSuQXME6Y3cjO8/jXW7qXGSsc4pTQY9rwhk6uy4+aMWk7uOZ05i!wy4UZgxCJG175yhDjgXaWwsmE37CwqWatzHt8w+01UGxg1X84B8gqiHiNIiC2dogjrAFjCvV/Q== X-Complaints-To: abuse@august.net X-DMCA-Complaints-To: abuse@august.net X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.1 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.belwue.de!feed.news.tiscali.de!newsfeed.freenet.de!216.166.71.118.MISMATCH!small1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!border1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!intern1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nntp.august.net!news.august.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:158129 Morten Reistad wrote: > > You folks still have your PDP10 combs? > > For the uninitiated; PDP10s were wirewrapped constructions. > Wirewraps sometimes acted up. In which case you loaded a tight > loop of a diag, and dragged a comb over the backplane. Isolated > the bad connections like a charm. > Maybe DEC employed the same deluded QA inspector I once had to deal with... I happened to be in our production area one day and saw an assembly lady with an unwrap tool, not unwrapping, but pushing wraps down to nice, even heights on the pins. For the ininitiated: This was *not* to be done since it broke the bond between the corners of the pin and the wire. So after a protracted discussion with the inspector who ordered the work, (What's more important: looking nice or reliability?) the panels were stripped and re-wrapped. But since the connections were obviously so "fragile," the same inspector, unbeknownst to engineering, ordered a manufacturing procedure change to conformally coat the back sides of the panels. So a few days later, here come these panels into the system assembly area looking like some snot-monster had spewed all over them - Think of a runny, clear epoxy spread over the mass of wires and pins and allowed to harden. Before system test, of course, during which we typically found a few mis-wires. They ended up in the trash. ###### Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers From: William Hamblen Subject: Re: lore References: <6cmdnf0itJZMD3-iRVn-gg@comcast.com> User-Agent: slrn/0.9.8.0 (Linux) Lines: 13 Message-ID: Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 21:41:42 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 207.69.48.104 X-Complaints-To: abuse@earthlink.net X-Trace: newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net 1071870102 207.69.48.104 (Fri, 19 Dec 2003 13:41:42 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 13:41:42 PST Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newsfeed.freenet.de!newsfeed.news2me.com!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net.POSTED!1f1d1bd7!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:158130 On 2003-12-19, Russ Holsclaw wrote: > I recall that the Computer Science Center at Univ. of Maryland > had > a strong odor about it, which I was told was the core-memory > cooling > oil in the computer. It put out quite a stench. I sometimes > wonder > if it had PCBs in it, or something toxic like that. I think you can just about guarantee it did. Askarel was invented in the 1920s and used _everywhere_ you needed transformer oil indoors. ###### From: arargh312NOSPAM@NOW.AT.arargh.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: lore Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 16:35:46 -0600 Organization: Not Really! Lines: 38 Message-ID: References: <6cmdnf0itJZMD3-iRVn-gg@comcast.com> <8cnurb.hr8.ln@via.reistad.priv.no> NNTP-Posting-Host: tcr86.dynip.ripco.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: e250.ripco.com 1071873347 19458 209.100.226.86 (19 Dec 2003 22:35:47 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ripco.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 22:35:47 +0000 (UTC) X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.92/32.572 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!in.100proofnews.com!tdsnet-transit!newspeer.tds.net!gail.ripco.com!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:158139 On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 15:41:37 -0600, fcweed wrote: >Morten Reistad wrote: > >> >> You folks still have your PDP10 combs? >> >> For the uninitiated; PDP10s were wirewrapped constructions. >> Wirewraps sometimes acted up. In which case you loaded a tight >> loop of a diag, and dragged a comb over the backplane. Isolated >> the bad connections like a charm. >> > >Maybe DEC employed the same deluded QA inspector I once had to deal >with... I happened to be in our production area one day and saw an >assembly lady with an unwrap tool, not unwrapping, but pushing wraps >down to nice, even heights on the pins. For the ininitiated: This was >*not* to be done since it broke the bond between the corners of the pin >and the wire. So after a protracted discussion with the inspector who >ordered the work, (What's more important: looking nice or reliability?) >the panels were stripped and re-wrapped. > >But since the connections were obviously so "fragile," the same >inspector, unbeknownst to engineering, ordered a manufacturing procedure >change to conformally coat the back sides of the panels. So a few days >later, here come these panels into the system assembly area looking like >some snot-monster had spewed all over them - Think of a runny, clear >epoxy spread over the mass of wires and pins and allowed to harden. >Before system test, of course, during which we typically found a few >mis-wires. They ended up in the trash. I hope that clown got trashed, also. -- Arargh312 at [drop the 'http://www.' from ->] http://www.arargh.com BCET Basic Compiler Page: http://www.arargh.com/basic/index.html To reply by email, remove the garbage from the reply address. ###### NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 02:25:13 -0600 Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 02:25:11 -0600 From: fcweed User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.6b) Gecko/20031205 Thunderbird/0.4 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: lore References: <6cmdnf0itJZMD3-iRVn-gg@comcast.com> <8cnurb.hr8.ln@via.reistad.priv.no> In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: Lines: 56 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.87.146.140 X-Trace: sv3-2KXdD8FNCFS+Y6SNnwX8VcY1pzAhQzHs31m9hZJC7Ixr7HwTfxvxese/f8yFqiIHbA3ad8alJpThylv!hY2aXPshCfL9Q6jARXk/9R8tMBGrd8W/DUuW6sRMjYFi1USjJdxG5PifMgo2+aYidjx3J/fLPQ== X-Complaints-To: abuse@august.net X-DMCA-Complaints-To: abuse@august.net X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.1 Path: redlance.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!ecngs!feeder.ecngs.de!216.166.71.118.MISMATCH!small1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!border1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!intern1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nntp.august.net!news.august.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: redlance.franklin.ch alt.folklore.computers:158162 arargh312NOSPAM@NOW.AT.arargh.com wrote: > On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 15:41:37 -0600, fcweed wrote: > > >>Morten Reistad wrote: >> >> >>>You folks still have your PDP10 combs? >>> >>>For the uninitiated; PDP10s were wirewrapped constructions. >>>Wirewraps sometimes acted up. In which case you loaded a tight >>>loop of a diag, and dragged a comb over the backplane. Isolated >>>the bad connections like a charm. >>> >> >>Maybe DEC employed the same deluded QA inspector I once had to deal >>with... I happened to be in our production area one day and saw an >>assembly lady with an unwrap tool, not unwrapping, but pushing wraps >>down to nice, even heights on the pins. For the ininitiated: This was >>*not* to be done since it broke the bond between the corners of the pin >>and the wire. So after a protracted discussion with the inspector who >>ordered the work, (What's more important: looking nice or reliability?) >>the panels were stripped and re-wrapped. >> >>But since the connections were obviously so "fragile," the same >>inspector, unbeknownst to engineering, ordered a manufacturing procedure >>change to conformally coat the back sides of the panels. So a few days >>later, here come these panels into the system assembly area looking like >>some snot-monster had spewed all over them - Think of a runny, clear >>epoxy spread over the mass of wires and pins and allowed to harden. >>Before system test, of course, during which we typically found a few >>mis-wires. They ended up in the trash. > > > I hope that clown got trashed, also. > I don't recall what happened to that one. The DoD inspector who rejected radar indicators because the display flickered when he used both hands to nudge a multi-detent rotary switch to a position between detents just sort of disappeared a few days after a corp. manager visited the DoD program office. This visit occurring after the inspector found a way to muck up a redesigned circuit that we'd redesigned solely to pass his bogus 2-handed nudge. The internal QA engineer who tried to get me fired because I ordered ~40K$ worth of DRAM without his personal signature took an assignment at another plant after he had to admit that accelerated life testing indicated their MTBF would be several times greater than the approved part that cost several times as much... But, for every one of those anal-pores there were many who worked with the design engineering staff to truly improve product quality.