Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – STRANGE.DOC

This post includes the contents of STRANGE.DOC. This is a chat log that was forwarded in an e-mail. The e-mail is dated January 24th, 1985 and the chat log was from the previous night.

Source: Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – STRANGE.DOC

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (113-116)

All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them and were probably taken Christmas day 1980.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (113-116)

The Magic of Recluse

Fantasy has always been my favorite genre when it comes to books. Having spoiled myself from an early age with the best fantasy series in existence (Lord of the Rings) and reading most of the great fantasy series since, it has become increasingly hard to find good fantasy to read. Recently, I pulled The Magic of Recluse off of the shelf (it's been there for years having been purchased at a library book sale for 50 cents long ago) and decided to give it a try. The Magic of Recluse is the first book in the Saga of Recluse series by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. and this is the first book of his I have read.

The world in which Recluse exists has two types of magic. Order magic and chaos magic. Chaos magic is active and destructive whereas order magic is passive and preserving. Without giving too much away, the story centers around a young man from Recluse named Lerris who is essentially bored with his life. Recluse is the Order capital of the world so to speak and any amount of chaos is seen as a threat. Therefore people such as Lerris, who are dissatisfied, are given a choice: be forever exiled from Recluse or attempt the "dangergeld". The dangergeld is a quest of sorts and as you can imagine, this is where the adventure begins.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book and found it to be quite a page turner. It didn't feel quite like the typical fantasy novel despite the existence of all the prerequisites but the story was interesting and engaging. It's definitely a series I will be continuing and I am already reading the second book. If I had to compare this book to another series I would say it feels a bit like the Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist though so far I like this series better. If you are looking for that next fantasy book to read (perhaps while growing old waiting for the next Game of Thrones book) and you haven't read this series yet, give it a try.

Random trivia: There was no map in this book (or the next). Not a big deal but a little surprising given how much travel is involved. But if you just have to have one, the internet comes to the rescue: http://hellspark.com/dm/maps/recluce/candar.html

My rating: 3.5/5

The One (December 1992)

The One was a computer gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. While it originally covered multiple platforms, by 1992 it was only covering the Amiga and was in fact titled The One Amiga. The December 1992 issue includes:

Source: The One (December 1992)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (109-112)

All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them and were probably taken Christmas day 1980.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (109-112)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (105-108)

All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them.

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (105-108)

Compute! (September 1987)

Compute! was one of the most popular multi-format computer magazines of the 1980s. In 1987 it was covering the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, PC, Amiga, and maybe others. The September 1987 issue includes:

Source: Compute! (September 1987)

Computer Shopper (October 2001)

In 2001 Computer Shopper still had some good content but it was no longer the phone book sized monstrosity that it once was. People had moved on to the Internet for ordering computers and parts greatly reducing the number of vendors advertising in magazines. Windows XP was the big story at this time. The October 2001 issue of Computer Shopper includes:

Source: Computer Shopper (October 2001)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (101-104)

All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them though they were likely taken in December 1980.

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (101-104)

PC World (April 2010)

By 2010 PC World and computer magazines in general were already in a state of decline. The Internet was taking over. PC World still had some decent content but the page court was barely over 100 pages. The April 2010 issue includes:

PC World (April 2010)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (097-100)

All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (097-100)

Digital Archaeology Expedition #1

Out in the distant reaches of the curb of my next door neighbor I discovered a small, towering beige monolith. To my expert eyes it was clear that it was a computational device of ancient origin. I immediately determined to ascertain whether or not it could be resurrected so I brought it and the accompanying cathode ray tube monitor and other accessories back to my laboratory.

Surprisingly enough, the pc and monitor powered on with no obvious problems except that the computer was missing a hard drive. No doubt the owner had wisely removed it and reused or destroyed it to prevent sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. I found a spare PATA hard drive laying around and placed it into the machine. Unfortunately it had to rest in the bottom of the case because the hard drive bracket was also missing and I had no spare that would fit this apparent Micro ATX mini tower. I successfully installed Lubuntu 10.04 and was off and running.

This generic looking beige box contained a 700 MHz Celeron processor and 256 MB of RAM. I immediately set out to determine how much I could upgrade this thing and if I had any parts that would do the trick. The Celeron 700 is a Socket 370 CPU so theoretically it could be upgraded all the way to a Tualatin Pentium III running at 1400 MHz depending on the motherboard.

It so happens that I had a 1000 MHz Coppermine Pentium III in my collection so I decided to stick it in and see what happened. This particular motherboard recognized it as a 750 MHz Pentium III. Apparently, this machine was running with a 100 MHz bus speed but this was a CPU designed for a 133 MHz bus speed. The first step was to enter the BIOS and determine if there were any settings there that would let me change the bus speed. The multiplier of the Coppermine Pentium III is locked so there is no way to increase the speed via that route. It turned out that the BIOS had no useful options whatsoever. Not a good sign.

The next step was to determine if there was any way to change the bus speed on this motherboard via jumper(s) so it was time to open the case up again for a closer examination. There wasn't a whole lot of useful info on the motherboard either and there were no jumpers that looked like obvious candidates. There was a name, 'Trigem Cognac', so that was a place to start.

After a little google-ing, I found out that this particular motherboard was used in certain Hewlett Packard and eMachines computers. Oddly, HP's own site claims that this board supports 100/133 MHz FSB speeds depending on the processor (http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph05159). I suspect this is a misprint as other sources, including the documentation I found for this motherboard indicate that it only supports 66/100 MHz bus speeds.

[pdfjs-viewer url=http://www.megalextoria.com/pdf/cognac.pdf download=true print=true openfile=true]

The conclusion I have reached is that this mother board supports 66 MHz and 100 MHz socket 370 CPUs up through at least the 1000 MHz Pentium III but only the 100 MHz front side bus version if you want to get the full speed out of it. If you try the 133 MHz FSB version like me you wind up with a 750 MHz operating speed. Still, given the 50 MHz speed bump and a doubling of the cache from 128 KB to 256 KB I suppose it was still worth swapping it out. It's not like it cost me something. It also appears that this board will support up to 256 MB DIMMs for a total of 512 MB with the right memory. I managed to get 384 MB working (256 + 128). Here's what system information is reported in Lubuntu:

Some memory is used for the onboard video.

For a motherboard I've never heard of by a manufacturer I've never heard of, it was sure used in a lot of computers. Of course, as far as I can tell they were all HP or eMachines models and since I never owned one of those I suppose that explains it. Here is a list of computer models that I found that use this motherboard (and there are probably others):

• HP Pavilion 6630 (Celeron 500 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 10.2 GB hard drive)
• HP Pavilion 6635 (Celeron 533 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 10.2 GB hard drive)
• HP Pavilion 6730 (Celeron 600 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 10 GB hard drive)
• HP Pavilion 6745C (Celeron 700 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)
• HP Pavilion 6746c (Celeron 733 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 30 GB hard drive)
• HP Pavilion 7840 (Celeron 766 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 30 GB hard drive)
• HP Pavilion 7917 (Celeron 1.1 GHz, 128 MB RAM, ?? GB hard drive)
• HP Pavilion XE736 (Celeron 600 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 10 GB hard drive)
• HP Pavilion XG838 (Celeron 800 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 30 GB hard drive)
• eMachines eTower 566i (Celeron 566 MHz, 32 MB RAM, 7.5 GB hard drive)
• eMachines eTower 566i2 (Celeron 566 MHz, 32 MB RAM, 7.5 GB hard drive)
• eMachines eTower 633id (Celeron 633 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)
• eMachines eTower 633ids (Celeron 633 MHz, 64 MB Ram, 15 GB hard drive)
• eMachines eTower 633irx (Celeron 633 MHz, 64 MB Ram, 20 GB hard drive)

The particular machine I discovered does not appear to be any of these. The specs most closely match the HP Pavilion 6745C and though the CD drive and keyboard found with it are clearly HP, the case appears generic.

I can't imagine why someone would have taken the guts from an HP and put them in a generic case unless the power supply died in the original and it was non-standard in terms of how it fit in the case. For now I have this slightly upgraded "classic" (700 MHz celeron -> 750 MHz Pentium III, 256 MB RAM -> 384 MB RAM) quietly sitting in a corner serving up some genealogy related content and crunching a few BOINC tasks.

Update 1:

This motherboard uses the circa 1999 Intel 810 integrated chipset which was typically used in entry level systems. It had relatively weak integrated graphics and did not support AGP. It also didn’t typically support very much memory. According to the motherboard manual, this particular motherboard only supports 256 MB of RAM but I currently have 384 MB installed and working. Not sure if 512 MB is possible (probably not). Having said all this, the Intel 810 chipset was still generally superior to the other integrated solutions available at the time.

Update 2:

Well, updating to Lubuntu 14.10 was a mistake… Or at least a real pain in the ass. After upgrading, the video wouldn’t show anything other than a white display, sometimes with stripes through it. I tried the usual solutions (e.g. adding nomodeset to the grub config, etc.) but to no avail. Not sure what the problem is (maybe Ubuntu just dropped support for the integrated graphics of the 810 chipset) but luckily I had a Radeon 7500 PCI card. I popped it in, disabled the onboard video in the BIOS and no more problems.

Update 3:

This machine is no longer running 24x7 though it still crunches BOINC tasks whenever it is on. The genealogy content has moved to my main server here.

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (093-096)

Vintage photos from 1980/1981

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (093-096)

Byte (January 1980)

Byte had already been around for a few years by 1980. It's page count was already near 300 pages and still ramping up but the introduction of the IBM PC was still more than a year away (along with other popular machines like the Commodore 64). The January 1980 issue includes:

Source: Byte (January 1980)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (089-092) | PeakD

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (089-092): The photos in this set are all dated November 1980.

Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron 531s

The Dell Inspiron 531S is a slimline desktop. Dell made several models of a similar design in both Intel and AMD varieties. This particular one has a Athlon 64 X2 5000+. The Intel models (Core 2 duo based) used the 530s model designation. Hardware specs of this one include:

Source: Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron 531s

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (085-088)

The photos in this set are all dated November 1980.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (085-088)

Compute!'s Gazette (April 1988)

Compute!'s Gazette was a spin-off of Compute! and, along with RUN, was one of the most popular Commodore 64/128 magazines in the U.S. The April 1988 issue includes:

Source: Compute!'s Gazette (April 1988)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (081-084)

The photos in this set are all dated November 1980 but were probably taken in October.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (081-084)

Advanced Computer Entertainment (September 1990)

Advanced Computer Entertainment or ACE for short, is a gaming magazine that was published in the U.K in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was probably best known for its 16-bit computer coverage but it covered various platforms over the years including game consoles. This issue indicates coverage for the Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Spectrum, PC, as well as Nintendo and Sega platforms. The September 1990 issue includes:

Source: Advanced Computer Entertainment (September 1990)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (077-080)

The photos in this set are all dated November 1980.

Most or all of these seem to have been taken inside the same fire damaged house that we've seen in the last several sets.

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (077-080)

GamePro (April 1993)

GamePro was the most popular gaming magazine in the U.S. after Electronic Gaming Monthly. They were usually pretty close in sales though I always preferred EGM. The April 1993 issue includes:

Source: GamePro (April 1993)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (073-076)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (073-076)

Amiga Power - Issue Number 0 - May 1991

Amiga Power is an Amiga gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. by the publishers of Amiga Format. It had a pretty good run lasting from 1991 to 1996. This is Issue 0 which has a May 1991 cover date. This seems to have been more of a preview issue. For some reason, Issue Number 1 also had the same cover date. Contents of Issue 0 is pretty limited but includes:

Source: Amiga Power - Issue Number 0 - May 1991

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (069-072)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (069-072): All of the photos in this set have the date October 1980 stamped on them. All of these photos feature the same fire damaged house seen in the last several sets.

Ahoy!'s AmigaUser (November 1988)

While there were a few Amiga specific magazines published in the U.S., it seems like most of them came and went pretty quickly. Ahoy!'s AmigaUser is an example of that. This was a spin-off of Ahoy! which was originally a Commodore 8-bit magazine. However, there were only a handful of issues of AmigaUser. The November 1988 issue includes:

Source: Ahoy!'s AmigaUser (November 1988)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (065-068)

All of the photos in this set have the date October 1980 stamped on them and feature the same fire damaged house seen in the last several sets.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (065-068)

The Official Sega Saturn Magazine (January 1998) | PeakD

Unfortunately, the Saturn had a relatively short commercial life as did the few magazines dedicated to it. This was the official Sega Saturn magazine in the U.K. The January 1998 issue includes:

Source: The Official Sega Saturn Magazine (January 1998)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (061-064)

All of the photos in this set have the date October 1980 stamped on them. All of these photos feature the same fire damaged house seen in the last several sets.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (061-064)

Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – SIGMET.DOC

This post includes the contents of SIGMET.DOC. The file is dated September 2nd, 1985. I assume this was intended to be an e-mail to the various SIG operators on Delphi as well as the Delphi personnel involved.

Source: Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – SIGMET.DOC

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (057-060)

All of the photos in this set have the date October 1980 stamped on them. All of these photos feature the same fire damaged house seen in the last few sets. These are dated a month later than previous ones so they were probably taken at a different time.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (057-060)

Byte (April 1993)

Though off of its peak, Byte still had a respectable page count in the early 1990s with the April 1993 issue weighing in at over 300 pages. It had become somewhat less technical by this point but that was the way the market was going. This issue includes:

Source: Byte (April 1993)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (053-056)

All of the photos in this set have the date September 1980 stamped on them. All of these photos feature the same fire damaged house seen in the last few sets.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (053-056)

AC’s Tech for the Commodore Amiga (March-May 1991)

AC's Tech for the Commodore Amiga was technically oriented quarterly publication for the Commodore Amiga, This issue is from March to May 1991 and includes the following:

AC’s Tech for the Commodore Amiga – Volume 1 Number 2 – March-May 1991

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (049-052)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (049-052): All of the photos in this set have the date September 1980 stamped on them. All of these photos feature the same fire damaged house seen in the last couple of sets.

PC Magazine (August 1982)

The IBM PC was a year old when this issue of Pc Magazine was on the stands. Going by page count, which was over 225 pages for this issue, there was already a ton of advertising behind PC products. The August 1982 issue of PC Magazine includes:

PC Magazine (August 1982)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (045-048)

All of the photos in this set are dated September 1980. They all seem to have been taken at the same time and place also matching the photos in the previous set.

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (045-048)

Hobby World (1979)

This add for Hobby World is from the August 1979 issue of Byte.

Hobby World (1979)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (041-044)

All of the photos in this set are dated September 1980. They all seem to have been taken at the same time and place also matching the last two photos from the previous set. The lighting isn't great but these photos seem to feature a house that has been damaged by fire. Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (041-044)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (037-040)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (037-040)

Electronic Gaming Monthly (August 1996)

Electronic was perhaps the most popular video gaming magazine in the U.S. during its peak. Sadly, though there are still some niche magazines out there, the days of popular video gaming magazines are long gone. The August 1996 issue of EGM includes:

Electronic Gaming Monthly (August 1996)

PC World (May 1998)

By the late 1990s, PC World and PC Magazine were the dominant PC magazines in the U.S. Of those two, I think I generally preferred PC World. This issue is from about 5 months after I got my second Gateway 2000 PC which was a 333 MHz Pentium II. The May 1998 issue of PC World includes:

PC World (May 1998)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (033-036)

The slides in this set are all stamped with the date May 1974.

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (033-036)

Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron 530s (upgraded)

This is a slimiline system that doesn't have a whole lot of upgrade potential but I decided to go ahead and upgrade the CPU. the original CPU in this system was the Pentium Dual Core E2200.

Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron 530s (upgraded)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (029-032)

The slides in this set are all stamped with the date May 1974.

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (029-032)