Since from time to time, I get questions about the different tape image formats that exists, as well as how to read/write tapes from Unix, I decided to publish a set of small programs I initially write many, many years ago. In the process of cleaning things up to make them more presentable, I also made them more flexible. The odd person might have seen these programs in earlier reincarnations from me at some point in time.
Anyway, I have a set of four programs, that a few people might find useful, if they play on Unix systems.
tpr - reads from a physical tape and creates an image on disk
tpw - reads an image from disk and writes it to a physical tape
tpc - copy/convert a disk image
tpx - examine/verify a disk image
These programs will handle both .tpc images (2 byte record length headers) and .tap images (4 byte record length headers and footers).
The programs tries to automatically identify the format of the file, but you can also force a format.
They are still extremely simple and stupid programs, and have very little error handling, or help. Feel free to ask if you have questions. Suggestions, as well as patches are also welcome.
The files can be found under ftp://ftp.update.uu.se/pub/pdp11/tptools.tar
(And yes, I know they will not compile under OSX - Apple in their infinite wisdom have dropped support for tapes, and thus mtio.h no longer is around, and their man-pages also have big holes around tapes, where plenty of references from other man-pages exists... tpc and tpx is easy to fix for OSX though, but you're out of luck as far as tpr and tpw goes...)
Johnny
--
Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
|| on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se || Reading murder books
pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
On Sat, 15 Feb 2014, Mark Abene wrote:
I gave up trying to make sense out of <mail>mailer-relay-info.txt.
Even MM's source code is vague at best. I ultimately made no changes
in TOPS-20 at all, and just created a rule in my router's iptables to
intercept all outgoing mail from TOPS-20 and divert it to a single
mail server. If you have a linux-based router, I can give you the
proper iptables incantation to do the same.
Cisco at this end, I can probably figure out a redirect rule easily enough.
-Mark
On Sat, Feb 15, 2014 at 2:15 AM, Cory Smelosky <b4 at gewt.net> wrote:
Hello all,
I saw earlier Mark A. was working on email craziness with TOPS-20. I need
to do the same, however I already have the groundwork in place. All I need
to do is tell it to relay all email to postfix over IP. It automatically
relays to my mailserver.
Where's the configuration manual for email located? One has to exist. ;)
--
Cory Smelosky
http://gewt.net Personal stuff
http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects
--
Cory Smelosky
http://gewt.net Personal stuff
http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects
I gave up trying to make sense out of <mail>mailer-relay-info.txt.
Even MM's source code is vague at best. I ultimately made no changes
in TOPS-20 at all, and just created a rule in my router's iptables to
intercept all outgoing mail from TOPS-20 and divert it to a single
mail server. If you have a linux-based router, I can give you the
proper iptables incantation to do the same.
-Mark
On Sat, Feb 15, 2014 at 2:15 AM, Cory Smelosky <b4 at gewt.net> wrote:
Hello all,
I saw earlier Mark A. was working on email craziness with TOPS-20. I need
to do the same, however I already have the groundwork in place. All I need
to do is tell it to relay all email to postfix over IP. It automatically
relays to my mailserver.
Where's the configuration manual for email located? One has to exist. ;)
--
Cory Smelosky
http://gewt.net Personal stuff
http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects
Hello all,
I saw earlier Mark A. was working on email craziness with TOPS-20. I need to do the same, however I already have the groundwork in place. All I need to do is tell it to relay all email to postfix over IP. It automatically relays to my mailserver.
Where's the configuration manual for email located? One has to exist. ;)
--
Cory Smelosky
http://gewt.net Personal stuff
http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects
Thanks Peter, I've been peering with Dave McGuire doing DECnet over
GRE on an emulated cisco 7206 in dynamips/dynagen. Other than burning
a lot of CPU cycles versus a much simpler Johnny-bridge, it works
quite well. :)
I'm GLGMSH (61.150) on HECnet, or gilgamesh.phiber.com on the Internet
if anyone is looking for a reliable TOPS-20 Panda system to hang out
on. Full e-mail, HECnet and Internet access.
-Mark
On Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 11:32 AM, Peter Lothberg <roll at stupi.se> wrote:
For HECnet I'm just running a plain old fashioned Johnny-bridge. :)
I take it HECnet peers are lacking in the U.S.?
I have a cisco box with DEcnet tunnels attached to a core bbox of a
major backboone in Reston VA, but no "johnny box".
-P
For HECnet I'm just running a plain old fashioned Johnny-bridge. :)
I take it HECnet peers are lacking in the U.S.?
I have a cisco box with DEcnet tunnels attached to a core bbox of a
major backboone in Reston VA, but no "johnny box".
-P
On 5 February 2014 09:17, Mark Wickens <mark at wickensonline.co.uk> wrote:
On 05/02/2014 08:00, Cory Smelosky wrote:
On Wed, 5 Feb 2014, Google wrote:
On 5 Feb 2014, at 05:26, Cory Smelosky <b4 at gewt.net> wrote:
So, my VAXstation 4000/60 shut off and I had difficulty getting it to turn back on. Seems like a not-to-abnormal situation, right? PSU's getting old or overheating protection kicked in? That's not the weird part!
It may have overheated, I do know power switches can get flakey in VS4000s but the symptoms tend to be it won't turn OFF not on't turn ON but I guess if the switch is not contacting correctly it could be that too. the switch isn't, as far as I can tell, directly controlling the current, it is in some kind of latch circuit that unlatches when you flick it to 'OFF'. I think it's an early 'soft-power' implementation.
I moved the UPS further away. Very possible it got bumped and got too close to the UPS.
Full explanation:
http://dectec.info/vaxstation-4000-power-switch-issues-and-cleaning/
Thanks!
Also talk to Mark Wickens, he's had a few issues with 4000/90 PSUs.
When I rebooted the system...it had decided it was suddenly /2015/ and all the licenses expired. I've heard of systems resetting to the past when something happens...but NEVER the future!
That is odd, but Mark W remarked on my blog about one PSU failing and spiking his 4000/90 so badly it fried several parts, it's possible it could have upskittled the TOY clock?
Fans would click for a second and then kick right back off. It stopped doing that until I removed all the drives. Plugged 'em back in after opening the PSU to look for obvious faults and found none. Everything is working fine now...Strange.
I had a hard disk taken out by a power spike. I also had firmware corruption that required reflashing the EEPROM, but I don't remember if that was related to the PSU. They draw 30 watts when switched 'off' so it's definitely worth turning them off when not in use. Twitching fans might indicate over-current protection kicking in. I know one thing however - switched mode PSU experts are few and far between!
Don't I know it! I think that if you want to collect vintage hardware you either need a tame PSU repair man, or you need to start learning. I don't have such a person to hand, or at least not one I want to ask too often anyway, so I need to learn. This is happening a bit, but I am very slow, and I need more test equipment, like the ESR meter that has been suggested.
Regards
Rob
A little tip: It fails its self test in a very intimidating way if you
execute it without a test harness attached to three of the four DUT
connections. Most people at surplus places don't know that. 'Nuff said. ;)
-Dave
On 02/05/2014 03:45 PM, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
Great, Now I've got *another* saved search on eBay - for a broken 4276A :)
Ian
On Feb 5, 2014, at 12:22 PM, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:
On 02/05/2014 03:21 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:
On 02/05/2014 03:14 PM, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
Mine's a cheap Chinese DT-9935 - $140. Free shipping from most Ebay vendors.
I do like HP gear, but the 4276A is a bit steep for me :)
I got it broken for even less than that and fixed it. =) I love doing
that...learn a lot in the process too!
(not to gloat, of course...just sharing the fun..)
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
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--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
Great, Now I've got *another* saved search on eBay - for a broken 4276A :)
Ian
On Feb 5, 2014, at 12:22 PM, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:
On 02/05/2014 03:21 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:
On 02/05/2014 03:14 PM, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
Mine's a cheap Chinese DT-9935 - $140. Free shipping from most Ebay vendors.
I do like HP gear, but the 4276A is a bit steep for me :)
I got it broken for even less than that and fixed it. =) I love doing
that...learn a lot in the process too!
(not to gloat, of course...just sharing the fun..)
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA
---
Filter service subscribers can train this email as spam or not-spam here: http://my.email-as.net/spamham/cgi-bin/learn.pl?messageid=545BF5528EA311E3B…
On Wed, 5 Feb 2014, Dave McGuire wrote:
On 02/05/2014 03:14 PM, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
Mine's a cheap Chinese DT-9935 - $140. Free shipping from most Ebay vendors.
I do like HP gear, but the 4276A is a bit steep for me :)
I got it broken for even less than that and fixed it. =) I love doing
that...learn a lot in the process too!
Unfortunately, I'd likely break one further.
Doesn't mean I wouldn't learn a lot, though. I've learned a LOT from doing things wrong the first five times. ;)
-Dave
--
Cory Smelosky
http://gewt.net Personal stuff
http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects
