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I'm vaguely interested to know if your machine and the Beeb's machines used the 8271 for their disk controller. Yes. I posted a long and detailed account of my experiences with the 8271 in the thread discussing its reverse engineering. But I realised it was hopelessly off-topic (as it is here) and ...

These are just sector images, so you can get away with an empty file of the correct size then "format" it - either 800kb or 1.6mb. In so far as getting that file, format an existing disk image to blank it, or here are a variety of methods in Unix/MacOS to make a file of a specific size: https://oste...

I've just given dv8 a link to the TIFFs for the calc package manual. They do need some bodgery to make them useful!

d.

Good shout. A meanwell PPT-125B should do the job:

https://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product ... od=PPT-125

Soft. Not high density.

Hullo Al

Hi Luca!

Hullo James

Hullo Peter

OK . . . Solution . . . Use a non rechargeable Lithium (3V or 3.6V) - You'll have at least 5 years out of it. Problem solved. Added bonus is no potentially leaky battery soldered to the board waiting to barf its guts up in the future :) A number of bits of hardware I'm in possession of would defini...

Indeed, we all are (and don't I know it!) Anyway, we find ourselves where we find ourselves... SO! to be constructive - I'd suggest just removing the copyright string is the neatest solution?

d.

:shock: :? That license is particularly permissive. You would be perfectly in keeping with the license by changing the name of the binary (and either removing or changing the display string), making sure attribution is clear in the source and there is a text file included in any distribution noting ...

Thanks a lot. Will see what I can do. Was first going to have a go a cleaning better with gentle scraping then cotton bud and vinegar, then cotton bud and distilled water. Is that sensible? I do have a cheap (Ultrics) multimeter, and I have a new soldering iron coming tomorrow too which (with a bit...

The forum was, I believe, hacked quite a long time ago - before my time! I don't know the details though, I think it was just brought down.

d.

What DFS version have you got? 8271 DFS doesn't have a format command built in (versions 0.9 and 1.2). Type *HELP and report what you see?

d.

BeebMaster wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:16 pm

Anything else I can try to fix it?

Put in a better quality 16mhz crystal?

d.

I'd definitely agree and recommend heading down the multios route - it's rather more useful than sticking an extra ROM in :) It's twice the price of the domesday ROM, but certainly does more than twice as much: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ACORN-BBC-MASTER-128-MULTI-OS-4-OS-IN-ONE-1-20-2-00-3-20-AND-3...

I have been recommended the Hakko FR301 desolder station a few times, but I am reluctant to drop $400+ on a desoldering thing! Hakko gear is excellent, but unless you're doing lots I don't think it's worth dropping loads on something like that. Lots of people on here use a duratool desoldering stat...

You'll have to put EtherH16 in the right place in the boot sequence to get it to load early enough for everything to see it's there, I think. That is, however, as much as I know as the boot sequence is a mysterious black box that I only touch wearing protective gloves if I absolutely have to. Someon...

I think you need EtherH16 - EtherH8 is the 8-bit version if I recall.

It can, I think, be loaded with a *RMLoad <filename>

d.

cmorley wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 14, 2020 7:30 am

Ignore bevel tips too... anything you'd want a bevel for you can usually use the chisel.

Personally speaking I prefer bevels as they have a sharper edge and I'm better at drag soldering with them - but horses for courses Conical are indeed the work of the devil though!

Tips are generally fairly iron specific, so it's hard to say what'll fit one of those generics. If you're serious about keeping up with repairs on old computers it would be worth investing in something that's temperature controlled - the basic duratools from CPC would do the job, and the tips are re...

Those WDCs are slightly different, but perhaps some of the edges were too fast? You'd probably need to scope/logic analyse the difference between the two on the 1MHz bus.

Use water to rinse off the vinegar - IPA won't remove the residue (it's good for cleaning up a bit of grease or removing flux, but not very good at dissolving salts from batter leakage/neutralisation)... You can use IPA after to help speed up drying, mind! You should get a beep on boot. Any flashing...

Unfortunately you still can't see the state of the battery, but at least it's not barfing out the back!

I don't think you'll reliably get 21V out of a Willem.

Good spot. Have requested actual picture... Let's see what happens

A normal VGA monitor will work - hold down 4 when you turn it on if the battery is dead. Be sure to physically check the battery - if it wasn't removed, it's very likely to have leaked quite substantially and consequently damaged the motherboard

d.

roland wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 10, 2020 2:11 pm

No thanks, the box is too bad But for those who want a matching box: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acorn-Atom-b ... 3739586129

He's selling it on Amibay too at that price. I think this retro-stuff goes to people's heads sometimes...

d.

Acorn SCSI card just went for £132 :shock: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324341976999 I know that they are one of the few SCSI podules that work with Risc iX but is that really what they are worth ? Am I being naive or tight ? Just means that someone with deep pockets wants to try running Risc iX, wil...