[rescue] Aviator

[Mike Spooner]

On 27 Nov 2017 at 08:56:37 -0500, john wrote:
>
> I found 3 cd's containing Aviator. I tried version 1.5.1 on a sparc 10
> with cgsix frame buffer,B  SunOs 4.1.4 and it ran.B  the software has one
> of those authorization schemes where you run a password generator, send
> the results to California with money and they send you a license key.B
> If you don't do this, it will run in demo mode for 60 seconds at a
> time.B  We were Sun VARS so it may have been possible to bypass the
> license key, but if there is, I can't begin to remember how.B  I do
> remember that we used to have dogfights with F-18s across the network
> with two of the other ex-pilots on the staff.B  Kids would likely have
> been better at it.
>
> I also have a manual, which is some 160 5.5x8.5 pages, all the better to
> scan two pages at a time.
>
> I ftp'd a tar file of this to one of our colleagues but haven't heard
> what his experience was.B  I think he was trying to gin up a system old
> enough to run it.
>
> I'm old and retired and have no (NO, AS in NOT ANY) time to fool with
> this.B  I would be delighted if someone wanting this would accept a mail
> shipment of a disk and the manual and would promise to scan it, make a
> pdf and share it with anyone else who's interested.
>
> Whatever you do, DO NOT send me an email with a locked-out return.B  I've
> had a public email address since 1983 and it's true, I get some spam,
> and the occasional phishing expedition.B  The guys in Afrika who used to
> send me letters offering to share some prince's estate with me if only
> I'd send them the numbers for one of my charge cards seem to have gone
> on to greener pastures.
>
> So I feel if I don't need a wall around my email account, you probably
> don't either so why should I waste any time trying to get back to you.
>


> If someone wants to take this on, send me a real name, a real address,
> and maybe a phone number and I'll try to get a cd and the manual to
> you.B  But you have to promise to scan the manual, make a pdf and SHARE it.
>
> BTW, it's perfectly possible that the guys who published this are still
> around. One of them has an unusual name. I think they did this as a
> moonlight project while employed at Sun.
>
> john
>

I have a pair of complete SS10s, a trio of TGX cards, a small mountain of
different MBus CPU modules, and have access to a Kodak i2900 heavy-duty
double-siding scanner.

Thus if no-one else steps forward, I could make the s/w and PDFed-manual
available online, and actually have a go at getting the s/w to run and work
on working round the password/timelimit.

However, I do not have SunOS 4.1.4, the closest I have is 4.1.3u1.
I can get the s/w and manual safely online quickly, but working on getting
the software fully working might have to wait a few months due to work
commitments.

Regards,
Mike Spooner
http://mbus.sunhelp.org