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Wanted: Early PC UNIX - Microport, Interactive, Esix

P

pitlog

Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
47
Location
Hampton Roads, VA
Hi,

I'm looking for 486 SVR4 on 5.25" tape. Specifically looking for any of:

Microport SVR4
Interactive SVR4
Esix SVR4
Dell SVR4

Not having much luck. I know someone out there has it and I'm willing to pay a reasonable fee. A tape image would be fine, too.

Cheers,
Tom
 
Last edited:
Terry Yager said:
Yes you are! If you want to do that, you're one of us...you just don't know it yet.

--T
Click to expand...
Well, maybe so. I'm an old UNIX hack, and a geek that hasn't had the opportunity to be a geek for too long. This is just my way of getting back to my roots. A mid-life crisis if you like. Some of my friends bought new sports cars or traded in their wife for a newer model. Me, I just want to play with old computers.
 
I guess you're right. I just took delivery of a rescued AT&T 3B2/400 system with all the documentation and original OS and utilities disks and a bunch of spare parts. I'll be having some fun making all that work properly in the next few months.

But I still haven't found someone with a complete SVR4 set :(

Anyone?

-Tom
 
Tom (and everyone!), fill in the "Location" field of your profile:
User CP -> Edit Your Details -> Additional Information

There might be someone local who has what you need and is willing to drop it off.
At the very least, you may hear from other enthusiasts in your area.
 
pitlog said:
Well, maybe so. I'm an old UNIX hack, and a geek that hasn't had the opportunity to be a geek for too long. This is just my way of getting back to my roots. A mid-life crisis if you like. Some of my friends bought new sports cars or traded in their wife for a newer model. Me, I just want to play with old computers.
Click to expand...

Collecting this stuff is a good way to trade in your wife on NO model :)

You'll notice she's missing. Eventually.
 
I expect that like mine, many of your spouses (are there any, shall I say "mature", women geeks here?) are very accommodating. My wife, while quite brilliant (she's a physician), has no living idea about the details of what I do or why I might care about old technology. I'm also a woodworker and she understands that pretty well because I build furniture that's useful and practical.

But she doesn't "get" dusty old computers that you can't get your email on or won't browse the web.

I tell her that this is the technology that jump started my career, and while she gets that intellectually, she doesn't understand why I should be a bit passionate about it.

Still, she accepts it totally without complaint. On the other hand I haven't amassed a collection as large as many of you. Time will tell how much this hobby will upset the apple cart of marital bliss.

Cheers,
Tom
 
pitlog said:
... I just took delivery of a rescued AT&T 3B2/400 system with all the documentation and original OS and utilities disks and a bunch of spare parts. I'll be having some fun making all that work properly in the next few months.

But I still haven't found someone with a complete SVR4 set :(

Anyone?

-Tom
Click to expand...

Greetings from water-logged North Florida. Like you I recently acquired a 3B2/400. I also have a box load of 3B2 documentation (not specific for the /400 model) but no software for it. I made a cable according to a FAQ posted at the link listed below, then tried to get a response from the console port with a couple of different terminals. However all I get is some jibberish characters on the screen when I try to boot. The computer seems to be quite alive and working. The green power led lights and the diagnostic led comes on for several seconds and then goes out. Without proper console response I have no idea if I have a system command prompt or if it is hung.
Let us know how you make out with yours.

Have you opened the box yet? Mine had a leaking backup battery that had actually eaten a hole in the bottom of the case. The contents had not leaked on any of the boards (lucky me).


General 3B2 Info
http://www.unixwiz.net/3b2.html

3B2 Serial cable
http://www.unixwiz.net/3b2/serial-de9.html
 
Greetings from sunny and cool Virginia!

If you can come up with a few boxes of 5-1/4" DSDD diskettes, I'd be happy to make you copies of all the software I have, and there is a LOT of it. Or maybe I can just build disk images and cut a CD for you.

On the console, it sounds like you've got a protocol mismatch. I think the console port works at 9600bps max, so I'd first try 9600 8N1. If that doesn't work, I'd try 4800 8N1, then 1200 8N1. I've got a full set of docs so I'll try looking at what they say in the owners manual about the console. What are you using as a terminal, minicom on linux, or somesuch, or a real terminal? BTW, I assume you've found all the considerable docs available on the net? If not, I'll post pointers.

I've opened the box and it is really clean. I got it from someone who took very good care of it, but hadn't had time for it for a few years. Mine has scsi, ethernet, X.25 (!), 16 serial ports, 2 MFM drives, a cartridge tape, and 4MB of RAM. SCSI is not working, but I think it's a configuration problem. I really want to get it working because the 50 pin narrow scsi drives are a lot easier to find and much cheaper than ST506's.

I'm totally new to this hardware, so it will be interesting to see how far I can get. I'm quite familiar with the OS and shouldn't have trouble with that.

I'll surely keep you informed and if there's anything I can do to help you, let me know. Feel free to contact me off list if you want. You can email me at pitlog_removethis at cox_andthis dot net.

SVR4 is AT&T Unix System V Release 4. It was quite popular just before Linux on 386 and 486 machines in the early to mid '90s. It was a great OS, and I'm interested in reviving it, too.

Cheers,
Tom
 
Chuck,

Never saw an answer to all this. I'm well into the old UNIX project now - have two old SVR4 systems up and running, networked, and lots of the old software compiled and working. Next I want to start my own little uucp/usenet network over tcp, or real modems. If anyone is interested in such a crazy idea, I'm happy to talk about why I might want to do this and what I hope to accomplish.

The 3B2 story is a bit slower unfolding... I still haven't got it up and running. Actually I haven't put any effort into it yet. I'm hoping I can get off my *ss this weekend and do some real work there.

Not to say I've been entirely slacking. I also started a new web site/community for retro computing. It's pretty cool stuff and I think it has possibilities. Anyone interested can check it out at A Retro Computing Community

So I'm really interested in hearing what happened with your 3B2 Chuck. Did you ever get it running? Still lacking software? Any way I can help?

-Tom
 
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