[rescue] AT&T 3B2 revival

Ian Finder ian.finder at gmail.com
Tue Aug 18 15:34:40 CDT 2015


Ha! I saw a friend and fellow list member's BLIT contract crabs quite
recently! I do need to get that running on mine though :)

Anyone know of other good demos and software for these things?

Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 18, 2015, at 13:28, John Floren <john at jfloren.net> wrote:
>
> I'm jealous of your Blit; I do hope you're running "crabs" on it! (
>
https://web.archive.org/web/20081119044106/http://9fans.net/archive/2008/01/1
33
> )
>
> john
>
>> On Tue, Aug 18, 2015 at 1:15 PM, Ian Finder <ian.finder at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I picked up a 3B2 400 and an AT&T 5620 "BLIT" recently and am always
>> looking
>> for software, folklore, discussion to supplement their restoration.
>>
>> I just don't know if a listserv is the right venue to collaborate on. But
I
>> don't have any better ideas.
>>
>> Any content and software people have collected, I would be happy to host
on
>> one of my Azure machines for distribution.
>>
>> - Ian
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>>> On Aug 18, 2015, at 13:10, Jerry Kemp <sun.mail.list47 at oryx.us> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On 08/18/15 10:53 AM, Alan Hightower wrote:
>>>> Forgive me not quoting a previous email as I just joined the list. I am
>>>> here to stay though. To disagree with Dave M. a bit, the 3B2 isn't very
>>>> well documented at all. Some of the original AT&T user documentation is
>>>> preserved on Al's site and a few others. However there is almost nothing
>>>> about the machine internals nor a comprehensive and verified software
>>>> archive. I've collected bits and peices of software over the years from
>>>> places like yahozna and some VCF personal collections. However I'd like
>>>> to see a shrine of knowledge somewhere eventually. It's a pretty
>>>> important machine in the UNIX timeline.
>>>
>>> Thank you for your post.  I've also been collecting 3b2 stuff off of the
>> Internet for many years, as it appears/disappears, and I have pretty much
>> zilch for internal HW documentation.  I'm sure you are aware that this
same
>> discussion is taking place over on the Classiccmp mailing list.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Ed Eckert, the cheif archivest for Alcatel-Lucent claims much of the
>>>> original techincal documentation on the machine is in safe hands and not
>>>> in any danger of being lost. But he still considers it
>>>> proprietary,confidential, and not currently suitable for
>>>> reclassification for public release. He suggested I reach out to George
>>>> Kupczak at the AT&T Archives in Warren, NJ which I have not done yet.
>>>
>>> That is an interesting bit of information that I was not aware of.
>>>
>>> I'm aware that they own the information, but, how long has it been since
>> the
>> last 3B2 rolled off of the assembly line? 20, 25 years?
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> A long time collector in Brunswick, GA allowed me to purchase his
>>>> 1000-80 recently for restoration and investigation. It has a blown power
>>>> supply which I am replacing with an newly made ATX PSU bridge board. I
>>>> normally would not consider that route, but the 600, 700, 1000 series
>>>> had an early hybrid switching+linear PSU. In the interrum, I feel safer
>>>> with a modern OC/OV limited ATX supply than the original until I can
>>>> fully root cause what went wrong and why. Once I get it running again
>>>> and SVR3.2 re-installed on a modern flash drive, I'll return to a few
>>>> project ideas for building up new CIO cards for the old girl.
>>>>
>>>> I'm interested in at least banding together a community and perhaps a
>>>> Google group or mailman list to start.
>>>
>>> I would love to participate in a 3b2 mailing list.   I would only hope
>> that
>> we wouldn't be the only two on it.
>>>
>>> Jerry
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> -Alan
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