The Retrocomputing Thread

[Paul]

U...U...Update!

The AS/400 guy just phoned and told me I'm gonna get a THIRD one O.O

The OS is installed but unfortunately the passwords are not known (there should be a way to reset them though) and also no tapes
That means this is gonna be BLOODY HELL... though there's a good German AS/400 forum so maybe I'm able to get all things needed.

In the evening, my dad's coming home with the machines then we'll see whether they work... that's gonna be something else than my trusty Unix computers

EDIT: and here they are (only two though, the third one didn't fit in the car xD)



The big white one is a 9404, the smaller black one is a 9402-200 (more likely to get this one to run since there's a sheet with passwords
Those things use connectors I've never seen before o.o

As you see they're pretty dirty, haven't got the time to clean them properly.

[Paul]

Ok, I've given them names
The black one with the missing frontplate is Knuckles, the white one's called Holly... taking a break from my usual naming scheme there.

DId a quick boot test [quick is relative since those beasts take about 30 minutes to IPL (= initial program load, what booting is called by IBM)] and unfortunately both of the machines stop at an error code that is most probably related to not being able to IPL from tape (those things need tapes to boot, even if there's a system installed on the HDD).
The guys from the German forum are helping me though, and I'll most probably get the tapes in 2-3 weeks.
Now the only thing left to look for is a 5250-terminal for accessing the machines.

btw, they are not as loud as I supposed them to be, they have a "mighty" sound, sort of a deep rumbling and big fans blowing.

[NejinOniwa]

they have a "mighty" sound

That one's a keeper, mah boi. -w-

[Bella]

They look awesome, Paul! Hope you can get them working soon and please do keep us apprised of the progress - I find the details quite interesting.

they have a "mighty" sound

That one's a keeper, mah boi. -w-

Yesh. :^D

[Paul]

Ok, terminals are on the way to me! As well as seven empty QIC-525 tapes that I'm gonna send to someone who loads OS/400 V3R3 on them ^^

[Bella]

Good to hear! 8D

[Paul]

They are here <3


Machines + Terminals


The IBM 3487 (those things beep!) displaying the DST (distributed service tools) menu, which complains about a missing disk (prolly one of them is dead :/) and refuses to boot the OS


The 8-port twinax box... the display/terminal port of those AS/400


The MASSIVE twinax cable


same cable, side view

I managed to get some output on the screens... unfortunately the machines complain about missing disks (the black one has 9 installed!) and refuse to go any further than to the DST.

[stewartsage]

I knew I had one of these somewhere around here.

[Bella]

Woot!

Our used book store / computer repair shop had a Windows 95 install CD for sale; considered getting it, but I couldn't justify spending $10 on something I'd probably never use, and could just as well download from the internets. -w-

[Nichi]

I have more copies of Windows 95 than I know what to do with; I have two RTM upgrade versions with their original boxes (One on CD, one on floppy. The floppy one is unusual for being labeled as a "promotional sample", but unfortunately, disc 1 is partially corrupt), along with OSR2 (My preferred version of 95) and OSR2.5 (The one with USB support). Also, there are my CD-R copies of two prototype builds (Chicago 58s and 189), which where obtained by...questionable methods.

At one obscure thrift store in town last year, I almost bought one variant I've never seen before (I believe it was OSR1 with Microsoft Plus bundled together on the same disc), but I passed it up because, to be honest, I'd likely never use it

[stewartsage]

Everyone talks about buying them secondhand; this is the first operating system I over owned.  Bought new in 1996.

[Pitkin]

Windows 95 was my first PC OS, but I wasn't (still am not) enthusiastic about it, as it meant giving up Amiga. I think it was in May 1997 or something...

edit: Okay, I was enthusiastic about getting a new computer, but Windows itself I wasn't too keen on. I only learnt to live with Windows with Win98 some two years later. x)

[Nichi]

The RTM upgrade CD is what originally came with my PC when it was bought (The on I call "The Yeti". For some reason, our tech guy insisted on giving us the upgrade version with a full version of 3.11, instead of just giving us a full version of 95). I remember being excited about getting it; after all, I loved the ads (The ones featuring Start Me Up) and was more than ready to move from Windows 3.1 on our old 486. It remained one of my favorite versions of Windows for years after; it was eventually surpassed by 2000 (Once I got over my initial, unjust hatred of it and actually used it)

[Bella]

Windows and I have had a bad relationship from the start.... the only two I ever used extensively were 98 (which sucked, quite a lot) and XP (which I mostly liked at the time). My favourite Windows versions are probably 1.0, 2.0, 3.1 and 98se.

I forgot to mention it before, but Paul, those terminal pictures are super cool! It's neat seeing how those things work "up close" like that - and gives a lot of perspective on just how complex those systems are.

[stewartsage]

Newsflash: They're holding a spring electronics recycling drive on campus.  Bad news: it's being centrally monitored this time.

I've never had a problem with a Windows, from 3.1 to Vista.  Nor have I ever had an issue with a Mac, from System 7 Apple DOS to OS 10.5