From: "O. Sharp" Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: OT: A PDP-12 Hunt Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 04:17:19 -0000 Organization: And I'll Keep On Looking Until I Find One, Dammit Message-ID: <1063081038.230634@yasure> User-Agent: tin/1.4.6-20020816 ("Aerials") (UNIX) (Linux/2.2.22-7.0.2 (i686)) Cache-Post-Path: yasure!unknown@cascadia.drizzle.com X-Cache: nntpcache 2.4.0b5 (see http://www.nntpcache.org/) X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com Lines: 31 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newsfeed.freenet.de!194.168.4.91.MISMATCH!newspeer1-gui.server.ntli.net!ntli.net!sn-xit-02!sn-xit-04!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch rec.arts.books.tolkien:122415 I kind of hate to come barging in here after a long and regretted absence just to post off-topic, but I'm going to anyway because there's such a group of clever people here who might have leads. :) I'm looking for an old Digital Equipment computer, a PDP-12, to purchase for a restoration project. They're no longer easy to find. The PDP-12s were built as laboratory instruments back in the late 1960s; they usually come in a cabinet about 6 feet tall, have one or two clunky-looking old-style magnetic tape drives on the front, and have an operator's console with several dozen impressive-looking lights and rocker switches. A picture of one can be seen at: http://flyingmoose.org/pdp12.jpg Fool that I am, I'm trying to find one that's gathering dust somewhere waiting for restoration. Because not many of them have survived the years, I'm also offering a bounty - either $100.00, or the one-and-only copy of Melkor-Bradley's "Lord Of The Rings" game in existence - to anybody who introduces me to the PDP-12 I buy. No, don't think I'm desperate or anything. :) Any leads? Any helpful suggestions?... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ohh@drizzle.com ObTolkien: D'you think Gandalf and Aragorn would have preferred a centralized rental structure like IBM or a widely distributed group of privately-owned systems like DEC?... ...And in what other newsgroup could I ask such an unbelievably double-geek question as _that_? ###### From: mair_fheal@yahoo.com (coyotes rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges) Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: OT: A PDP-12 Hunt Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 21:54:26 -0700 Organization: eden huntersstrand Message-ID: References: <1063081038.230634@yasure> X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com Lines: 35 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!sn-xit-03!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!c102.ppp.tsoft.com!user Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch rec.arts.books.tolkien:122409 In article <1063081038.230634@yasure>, "O. Sharp" wrote: > I kind of hate to come barging in here after a long and regretted > absence just to post off-topic, but I'm going to anyway because there's > such a group of clever people here who might have leads. :) > > I'm looking for an old Digital Equipment computer, a PDP-12, to purchase > for a restoration project. They're no longer easy to find. The PDP-12s do you need the hardware or the periphials or would an emulator do if the pdp 12 is anything like the pdp 8 it wouldnt be too hard to emulate > ohh@drizzle.com ObTolkien: D'you think Gandalf and Aragorn would > have preferred a centralized rental structure like IBM > or a widely distributed group of privately-owned systems > like DEC?... > ...And in what other newsgroup could I ask such an > unbelievably double-geek question as _that_? bilbo white and the seven dwarfs ibm hp burroughs sperry univac cdc ncr dec that magnetic tape is called dectape on which you could rewrite a block without invalidating rest of the reel ###### Message-ID: <3F5EDB07.7CE58EF6@none.com> From: None Organization: none X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.08 [en] (WinNT; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: OT: A PDP-12 Hunt References: <1063081038.230634@yasure> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 47 Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 09:04:23 +0100 NNTP-Posting-Host: 194.125.207.186 X-Complaints-To: news@indigo.ie X-Trace: news.indigo.ie 1063181250 194.125.207.186 (Wed, 10 Sep 2003 09:07:30 BST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 09:07:30 BST Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!newsfeed-zh.ip-plus.net!news.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.belwue.de!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!diablo.theplanet.net!news.indigo.ie!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch rec.arts.books.tolkien:122491 O. Sharp wrote: > > I kind of hate to come barging in here after a long and regretted > absence just to post off-topic, but I'm going to anyway because there's > such a group of clever people here who might have leads. :) > > I'm looking for an old Digital Equipment computer, a PDP-12, to purchase > for a restoration project. They're no longer easy to find. The PDP-12s > were built as laboratory instruments back in the late 1960s; they usually > come in a cabinet about 6 feet tall, have one or two clunky-looking > old-style magnetic tape drives on the front, and have an operator's > console with several dozen impressive-looking lights and rocker switches. > A picture of one can be seen at: > > http://flyingmoose.org/pdp12.jpg > > Fool that I am, I'm trying to find one that's gathering dust somewhere > waiting for restoration. > > Because not many of them have survived the years, I'm also offering a > bounty - either $100.00, or the one-and-only copy of Melkor-Bradley's > "Lord Of The Rings" game in existence - to anybody who introduces > me to the PDP-12 I buy. No, don't think I'm desperate or anything. :) > > Any leads? Any helpful suggestions?... > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > ohh@drizzle.com ObTolkien: D'you think Gandalf and Aragorn would > have preferred a centralized rental structure like IBM > or a widely distributed group of privately-owned systems > like DEC?... > ...And in what other newsgroup could I ask such an > unbelievably double-geek question as _that_? Why O.Sharp. Long time no see. Holy second-hand-diodes Batman! Do I sense a kitchy remake of the Batman TV series in the offing, complete with MORE authentic Batcave Computers? None. ###### From: "O. Sharp" Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: OT: A PDP-12 Hunt Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 19:44:24 -0000 Organization: And How Would You Write An Emulator For It? Message-ID: <1063482263.174046@yasure> References: <1063081038.230634@yasure> <3F5EDB07.7CE58EF6@none.com> User-Agent: tin/1.4.6-20020816 ("Aerials") (UNIX) (Linux/2.2.22-7.0.2 (i686)) Cache-Post-Path: yasure!unknown@cascadia.drizzle.com X-Cache: nntpcache 2.4.0b5 (see http://www.nntpcache.org/) X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com Lines: 46 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!switch.ch!news.mailgate.org!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!sn-xit-03!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch rec.arts.books.tolkien:122639 None - nice screenname! - wrote: > Why O.Sharp. Long time no see. Yeah, my life's been a little hectic. :) (picture in mind's eye: cities burning, mountains collapsing, wild herds of locusts stampeding through screaming crowds, unrequested credit card applications falling from the sky like rain, me sitting at a keyboard in the middle of it all trying to look up some HoME reference for a post...) > Do I sense a kitchy remake of the Batman TV series in the offing, > complete with MORE authentic Batcave Computers? Erm... no. Not one that's _my_ fault, anyway. :) I'm doing some research on DEC hardware restoration, and for rather arbitrary reasons have decided that the PDP-12 is likely to be the best 12-bit processor to document. Long story. :) ...And as long as I have time to write a post, mair_fheal@yahoo.com (coyotes rand mair fheal greykitten tomys des anges) wrote thusly: > do you need the hardware or the periphials or would an emulator do > > if the pdp 12 is anything like the pdp 8 > it wouldnt be too hard to emulate Oh, hardware, definitely. The -12 is a wild hybrid of the PDP-5/PDP-8 series and the LINC, and one of the LINC's strengths is its hardware- handling. (It'd be interesting emulating the -12's instruction set, since it would have to run two completely distinct emulators under the same roof. ) > that magnetic tape is called dectape > on which you could rewrite a block without invalidating rest of the reel Well, in the case of the PDP-12 it's LINCtape, not DECtape, though they run off the same hardware. But I don't want to get all technical. :) ...Anyway, I'm still looking. Indicators are I will still be looking for some time to come, so if anyone has any leads I'll take them. :) :) --------------------------------------------------------------- ohh@drizzle.com ObTolkien: Would Smeagol/Gollum be a valid model for a dual processor?... ###### From: Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: OT: A PDP-12 Hunt Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 17:00:25 +0400 Organization: MTU-Intel ISP Lines: 21 Message-ID: References: <1063081038.230634@yasure> <3F5EDB07.7CE58EF6@none.com> <1063482263.174046@yasure> NNTP-Posting-Host: ppp134-249.dialup.mtu-net.ru X-Trace: gavrilo.mtu.ru 1063543977 15016 62.118.134.249 (14 Sep 2003 12:52:57 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet-abuse@mtu.ru NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 12:52:57 +0000 (UTC) X-Newsreader: MicroPlanet Gravity v2.50 X-Incantation: For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined. Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff2.ethz.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!irazu.switch.ch!switch.ch!newsfeed3.funet.fi!newsfeed2.funet.fi!newsfeeds.funet.fi!193.124.83.76.MISMATCH!news1.spb.su!image.surnet.ru!mtu.ru!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch rec.arts.books.tolkien:122648 O. Sharp wrote: > None - nice screenname! - wrote: > > > Why O.Sharp. Long time no see. [...] > ...Anyway, I'm still looking. Indicators are I will still be looking > for some time to come, so if anyone has any leads I'll take them. :) :) > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > ohh@drizzle.com ObTolkien: Would Smeagol/Gollum be a valid > model for a dual processor?... A small correction: it's 'duel processor'. Archie -- "I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies is not to fill them with satisfaction or glee." Kurt Vonnegut, _Slaughterhouse-Five_ ###### Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!not-for-mail From: Neil Franklin Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: OT: A PDP-12 Hunt Date: 14 Sep 2003 17:03:08 +0200 Organization: My own Private Self Lines: 32 Message-ID: <6ufziz1kgj.fsf@chonsp.franklin.ch> References: <1063081038.230634@yasure> <3F5EDB07.7CE58EF6@none.com> <1063482263.174046@yasure> NNTP-Posting-Host: chonsp.franklin.ch X-Trace: chonsp.franklin.ch 1063551788 323 10.0.3.2 (14 Sep 2003 15:03:08 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@chonsp.franklin.ch NNTP-Posting-Date: 14 Sep 2003 15:03:08 GMT X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.7/Emacs 20.4 Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch rec.arts.books.tolkien:122653 "O. Sharp" writes: > Oh, hardware, definitely. The -12 is a wild hybrid of the PDP-5/PDP-8 > series and the LINC, and one of the LINC's strengths is its hardware- > handling. (It'd be interesting emulating the -12's instruction set, > since it would have to run two completely distinct emulators under the > same roof. ) Actually the PDP-12s predecessor, the Linc-8 was an dual processor Linc + PDP-8. AFAIK the main difference of the PDP-12 ist that it is only one processor (saves hardware) which can execute either Linc or PDP-8 programs depending on an switch set by the operating system. > run off the same hardware. But I don't want to get all technical. :) Well here I need to, to make the joke below understandable. > ...Anyway, I'm still looking. Indicators are I will still be looking > for some time to come, so if anyone has any leads I'll take them. :) :) You may want to try somewhere like alt.folklore.computers or alt.sys.dec as people collecting such old stuff seem to hang around there. > ohh@drizzle.com ObTolkien: Would Smeagol/Gollum be a valid > model for a dual processor?... No. Because Smeagol/Gollum was one piece of hardware with 2 personalities running on it. So that would make Smeagol/Gollum like an PDP-12, but not an dual processor like the Linc-8. -- Neil Franklin, neil@franklin.ch.remove http://neil.franklin.ch/ Hacker, Unix Guru, El Eng HTL/BSc, Programmer, Archer, Blacksmith - hardware runs the world, software controls the hardware code generates the software, have you coded today?