I have an old Motorola PPC board (Atlas, AT form factor). It worked great, but wouldn't boot from an IDE disk (SCI or floppy worked fine though). Later it stopped autobooting altogether, requiring me to type the boot command each time. What did I expect from a board found in a garbage can.
Once while tinkering with it I got the AT power connectors backwards. Thankfully the power supply was high enough quality to shut itself down really quick so there was no smoke.
I thought I had toasted the board. After correcting the wiring I found that it did work. It just lost its entire NVRAM configuration. After re-entering the settings I found that it was now autobooting again, and would boot from the IDE disk.
That was my first experience with a screw-up improving the system
BTW This whole machine is a kludge. The heatsink was missing, so I added a Pentium cooler to it, but the mounting is totally different so it is tied on with bits of wire.
Explain to me how the hell you plugged it into your wall? THE PLUGS ARE DIFFERENT IN EUROPE. You wouldn't have been able to plug it in
I can't say if this is true in this case, but most computer equipment uses the same connector for the power cupply end of the power cord. If he got a 220V UPS with an American cord I could see that happening. Or maybe it didn't come with a cord and he grabbed a spare one he had.
I am surprised that APC didn't cover the computer since the wrong unit had been provided. I guess they figured you should check the label for the voltage before pluging it in.
the installer is simple and no-frills, and gets the job done well, without confusing the hell out of you in the process.
After just going throught an OpenBSD install I found the installer pretty good. It didn't do nearly as much as the Debian installer, but it did leave the ystem in a usable state and was much easier to use with a serial console and a lousy terminal emulator (I didn't feel like getting out the monitor with the old style Sun 13W3 connector).
The only part I didn't like was the disklabel editor. Yech! If it would have let me work in MB instead of sectors I would have prefered it. It rounds off what you enter anyways.
Sure you can. I just set up OpenBSD on a SPARCClassic (50MHz CPU, 48MB RAM, 2GB SCSI disk). This is a small webserver, DNS server and may take over from my DLInk router when I spend the time to learn the PF feature. I don't want to compile stuff on such an underpowered box. I would likely have to build the system on an NFS mount due to lack of disk space.
BTW OpenBSD works much better on it than Debian did. It runs faster, takes up a little less disk space and seems to leave more RAM free.
I liked the disk error from the OS:
"You MUST insert disk 'DiskName' in drive DF0:!!!" that you got if you removed a disk during a write. If you didn't put it back you would end up with a corrupt filesystem and have to wait a while while it fixed it.
Re:Apple's MPW C compiler famous for its error msg
on
Gnarly Error Messages
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· Score: 1
I remember seeing IBM demos trying to create development systems that anyone could drag and drop their own programs together.
Commodore tried too. Anyone else remember AmigaVision. This was a flowchart based language for the Amiga intended for doing Multimedia presentations.
It had all the normal programming stuff, plus the ability to display animations, images, play music and sound, control a LaserDisc player (that dates it) and work with dBase III files.
Here is a screenshot
I took with a simple program (Probably wrong since I just threw down some icons and never tried to run it.). And yet that hideous red thing at the bottom is the mouse pointer. I think it is supposed to be an A.
When was the last time you saw a phone that would let you dial a number? I mean just dial a number, without redial, memory, flash, hold, speakerphone, caller ID, flashing lights or any of that peripheral junk?
It has been a while, but despite the fact all of those extra buttons are there, I simply don't use them. The phone still works the same way it has since the automatic switch was invented (Except the rotary dialer was replaced with touch tone keypads). You pick up the handset and dial. When done you put the handset back. I have never even pressed the 'Flash', 'Memory' or 'Pause' buttons on the phone.
Even cell phones, which have way too many features, let you just dial a number, the only difference is that you have to press 'SEND' or 'TALK' after you dial.
I am waiting for a phone manufacturer to think people mainly use speed dials and make you press another button before you can just dial a number.
When was the last time you actually heard a telephone RING? With an actual brass bell that went "ding-a-ling-a-ling?"
I wish that would come back. I have a phone that still has a real bell, but the rest of the phone is junk. The manufacturer thought that having a redial key (Who uses that?) was more important than the '*' key, making voicemail systems useless. That really bugs me, unlike when the extra junk is on seperate buttons.
Buy ATI or Matrox instead. These companies both actually document their hardware and support Open Source developers!
Try asking Matrox when any of their cards, other than the discontinues G400, will support TV out in XFree86. You will not get an answer. They have also not released specs. The driver for TV Out on the G400 is in a binary only module (mga_hal_drv.o).
I have tried asking on the forum (where it is a common topic), as well as emailing sales and developer relations.
Absolutely 100% NOT true! I am running several systems that are 386 and 486 based
I used to run a 386SX40 as a file server. The BIOS didn't even have a problem with the 20GB and 30GB drives. It has since been replaced by a 100MHz PPC and has also taken on DNS for the home LAN.
Also note that some older Pentium's overclock well. I have a P75 that runs reliably at 133MHz. Just make sure you have a big heatsink (Like one for a P200 or similar). That may give you the performance you are looking for.
Over in Germany, we have something that works flawlessly. Paper and pen. The forms are counted manually and the results are faxed from the local offices.
Very similar to what we have in Canada. The polls close at 8pm and the results are in the next mornings paper.
The federal election ballots are all black except for the names and the spot to put the mark in. This makes it very hard to spoil the ballot except by voting for multiple canidates.
Even the city elections here use a decent system. You make a mark with a pen on a piece of paper. The paper is fed througha scanner on top of the ballot box. Counts are automatic, but they still have paper ballots to count if needed. Note: City elections are more complicated than the federal or provincial since they include school board trustee's, etc.
At university I sat 3 hour finals exams sitting on a moulded plastic stacking chair without any back pain problems.
In my University computer lab they had chairs that were comfortable to sit in all day (Did that once or twice). They were a simple moulded plastic chair on a gas height adjustment with a foot rest. It didn't look comfortable, but you could sit in them all day with no problem.
car companies would have to replace a lot of theyre equiptment to make cars with metric bolts.
1986 Chevy Cavalier - 100% metric fasteners, right down to the lugnuts. This was the Canadian version, but I think it was the same as the American one, except no catalytic convertor.
>Configure your X for multiple resolutions, and switch between them with ctrl-alt +/-
But when you change resolutions in Windows you actually change the resolution of the desktop, not just the monitor. XFree86 just scrolls the large image which can be very annoying. The desktop must be atleast as large as the highest resolution mode defined.
Also Windows and MacOS can change colour depth on the fly. X can't (Even eXceed on Windows complains when you change colour depth).
>>> vnc (or other RFB) server support, so I can view my desktop -- the one shown on the monitor from another computer
>VNC was made by AT&T, had has clients & servers for almost every platform, including linux
The Unix VNC server does not mirror the current display. It provides a seperate remote display. On Windows VNC lets you use the current display which can be very usefull. I wish the Unix VNC server could provde this feature.
Most of the stuff he did on the computer was possible too. The war dialer,...the acoustic modem,...
<NITPICK>
How do you war dial on an acoustic modem? Even if it could generate DTMF tones to dial the phone it couldn't work the hook switch to dial the next number.
Macrovision doesn't want their secrets out, becaus then *horrors* people could watch their movies in ways not authorized!
It may also be the other way around. I remember hearing that DVDs with Macrovision have to pay a small royalty to MacroVision Inc. If the player turned on Macrovision when the DVD didn't ask for it then MacroVision Inc. would probably get annoyed.
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Unless you compile with debugging info included. The variable names are included so the debugger can refer to 'Fred' instead of 0x10293432.
From an OpenBSD system ./hello
# gcc -o hello -g hello.c
#
Hello World
# grep Hello hello
Binary file hello matches
# grep Fred hello
Binary file hello matches
I have an old Motorola PPC board (Atlas, AT form factor). It worked great, but wouldn't boot from an IDE disk (SCI or floppy worked fine though). Later it stopped autobooting altogether, requiring me to type the boot command each time. What did I expect from a board found in a garbage can.
Once while tinkering with it I got the AT power connectors backwards. Thankfully the power supply was high enough quality to shut itself down really quick so there was no smoke.
I thought I had toasted the board. After correcting the wiring I found that it did work. It just lost its entire NVRAM configuration. After re-entering the settings I found that it was now autobooting again, and would boot from the IDE disk.
That was my first experience with a screw-up improving the system
BTW This whole machine is a kludge. The heatsink was missing, so I added a Pentium cooler to it, but the mounting is totally different so it is tied on with bits of wire.
I can't say if this is true in this case, but most computer equipment uses the same connector for the power cupply end of the power cord. If he got a 220V UPS with an American cord I could see that happening. Or maybe it didn't come with a cord and he grabbed a spare one he had.
I am surprised that APC didn't cover the computer since the wrong unit had been provided. I guess they figured you should check the label for the voltage before pluging it in.
After just going throught an OpenBSD install I found the installer pretty good. It didn't do nearly as much as the Debian installer, but it did leave the ystem in a usable state and was much easier to use with a serial console and a lousy terminal emulator (I didn't feel like getting out the monitor with the old style Sun 13W3 connector).
The only part I didn't like was the disklabel editor. Yech! If it would have let me work in MB instead of sectors I would have prefered it. It rounds off what you enter anyways.
Memories of Colman lanterns and stoves.
I always wondered why so many people complained when the city started charging $1CDN for each bag over 3 per week.
I wonder how many calls RCA got asking why the included disk doesn't play in it.
I liked the disk error from the OS:
"You MUST insert disk 'DiskName' in drive DF0:!!!" that you got if you removed a disk during a write. If you didn't put it back you would end up with a corrupt filesystem and have to wait a while while it fixed it.
Favorites include:
It had all the normal programming stuff, plus the ability to display animations, images, play music and sound, control a LaserDisc player (that dates it) and work with dBase III files. Here is a screenshot I took with a simple program (Probably wrong since I just threw down some icons and never tried to run it.). And yet that hideous red thing at the bottom is the mouse pointer. I think it is supposed to be an A.
Even cell phones, which have way too many features, let you just dial a number, the only difference is that you have to press 'SEND' or 'TALK' after you dial.
I am waiting for a phone manufacturer to think people mainly use speed dials and make you press another button before you can just dial a number.
I wish that would come back. I have a phone that still has a real bell, but the rest of the phone is junk. The manufacturer thought that having a redial key (Who uses that?) was more important than the '*' key, making voicemail systems useless. That really bugs me, unlike when the extra junk is on seperate buttons.I have tried asking on the forum (where it is a common topic), as well as emailing sales and developer relations.
Also note that some older Pentium's overclock well. I have a P75 that runs reliably at 133MHz. Just make sure you have a big heatsink (Like one for a P200 or similar). That may give you the performance you are looking for.
The federal election ballots are all black except for the names and the spot to put the mark in. This makes it very hard to spoil the ballot except by voting for multiple canidates.
Even the city elections here use a decent system. You make a mark with a pen on a piece of paper. The paper is fed througha scanner on top of the ballot box. Counts are automatic, but they still have paper ballots to count if needed. Note: City elections are more complicated than the federal or provincial since they include school board trustee's, etc.
>Configure your X for multiple resolutions, and switch between them with ctrl-alt +/-
But when you change resolutions in Windows you actually change the resolution of the desktop, not just the monitor. XFree86 just scrolls the large image which can be very annoying. The desktop must be atleast as large as the highest resolution mode defined.
Also Windows and MacOS can change colour depth on the fly. X can't (Even eXceed on Windows complains when you change colour depth).
>>> vnc (or other RFB) server support, so I can view my desktop -- the one shown on the monitor from another computer
>VNC was made by AT&T, had has clients & servers for almost every platform, including linux
The Unix VNC server does not mirror the current display. It provides a seperate remote display. On Windows VNC lets you use the current display which can be very usefull. I wish the Unix VNC server could provde this feature.
How do you war dial on an acoustic modem? Even if it could generate DTMF tones to dial the phone it couldn't work the hook switch to dial the next number.
</NITPICK>