From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.1 (2015-04-28) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.6 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_SIGNED,DKIM_VALID, DKIM_VALID_AU,FREEMAIL_FORGED_FROMDOMAIN,FREEMAIL_FROM, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,HTML_MESSAGE,MAILING_LIST_MULTI, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.1 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id 9dddedb9 for ; Fri, 29 Jun 2018 14:56:23 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 09A05A1B14; Sat, 30 Jun 2018 00:56:23 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CA89DA183F; Sat, 30 Jun 2018 00:55:53 +1000 (AEST) Authentication-Results: minnie.tuhs.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key; unprotected) header.d=gmail.com header.i=@gmail.com header.b=bRBhSXxx; dkim-atps=neutral Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 8AB89A183F; Sat, 30 Jun 2018 00:55:51 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-wm0-f46.google.com (mail-wm0-f46.google.com [74.125.82.46]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 95956A181B for ; Sat, 30 Jun 2018 00:55:50 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-wm0-f46.google.com with SMTP id v25-v6so1524028wmc.0 for ; Fri, 29 Jun 2018 07:55:50 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20161025; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from:date:message-id:subject:to :cc; bh=XJs3vesLWlz8sUNE2kXh+EtyhiQQi6Fv1aYaXLptf2c=; b=bRBhSXxxllNpIm9mJ4rX+WwxEWsn7oed+SmsgjOuOtDSeyI+PKnoLOFSYvlFJ2Dqek ctTxklbW/1PJ3jeGRHiFYZRUAboBCKW9+VZZYpJW4Lo7Dwp14WQ+7cMW+FDnKBy2HfA+ 2MGCMNGTEf6PdNEXVmq78cPSd5JPV7dX9I78e9Jc7mL6athWipJw5z7DZTpZaQ3rH00E UOx3d4KFMF7aZEajHLXdP+FKwSkWiFHiO/tLxvXx3aZHu2oYGtCkGG7hvzUf5BGKw4ac xhWwVIbRfT1XPf5jILiEZ9YuBfzqG5fJglnNXI7zpHFDAgK6nijwLQFokUCE3z+Wbffp GERw== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20161025; h=x-gm-message-state:mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from:date :message-id:subject:to:cc; bh=XJs3vesLWlz8sUNE2kXh+EtyhiQQi6Fv1aYaXLptf2c=; b=LnNgWLi+XgC5Asu0ukAzxv7eKv+BY7hcoRcyaKbX5f+Ez1HhwcFaRWqNq0LO+uapjP YRw5UNC2WmETcFxkgsVvleKiFzMd6D4RWjSjekCqRD2Gjxat/C1S3DWxhzroC3H0xmef b1phg/I2rD62nwNK9Lc/eItz5/2uvTP1Fb1Onnpy+AcKLQaUeBHxnDd7LOlMnKt9mq+4 PusGUM4w+8sCYMsKiTw1dpEqlQNox/R5+Oob4PGm9n9RoDeZxmLUyBw6iWoMxKME/0R7 t4RHiR25w5qAxhbSyBbX1B09ek31bfgfwVVyS1oOwzzxXbMZNI7waMAW+hx2bhiqe2Fr HmOA== X-Gm-Message-State: APt69E0f8oI85n/vK0Mh/Pl65iNVrZOc6WrL2aLYutuGaiU9PDriOCfE JEbSpiqAMDdyx1xy3MSEVtSjAaLFBlF7WtWo5zM= X-Google-Smtp-Source: AAOMgpeM9mtqqdnc/nLZqtvs1yt53YC9Y9PxF0vz27bAuZAmVl+yez4xbZ8JtbzL7Pl2k6RvuHPhAMgtmeLlArqGdPE= X-Received: by 2002:a1c:a016:: with SMTP id j22-v6mr1169559wme.1.1530284148922; Fri, 29 Jun 2018 07:55:48 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 2002:adf:8f64:0:0:0:0:0 with HTTP; Fri, 29 Jun 2018 07:55:48 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <00f101d40fab$5af29aa0$10d7cfe0$@ronnatalie.com> References: <00f101d40fab$5af29aa0$10d7cfe0$@ronnatalie.com> From: "John P. Linderman" Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2018 10:55:48 -0400 Message-ID: To: ron@ronnatalie.com Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="0000000000001a2046056fc90b2c" Subject: Re: [TUHS] ATT Hardware X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: The Unix Heritage Society Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" --0000000000001a2046056fc90b2c Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable You just pushed my "3B button". Rudd Canaday (who had a hand in the design of the original UNIX file system) wanted to create a message-based "Database Machine". We planned to base it on the MERT (Multi-Environment Real Time) UNIX variant on VAXen, and had some of the architects of MERT on the team with real expertise in VAX architecture. Unfortunately, just as we were getting under way, the AT&T chip project needed clients, so we were told "Thou shalt use AT&T computers". Not only did we have no expertise, the documentation was almost non-existent, so the only way to learn was trial and error. They installed two 3B20-ish computers that looked like racks of telephone equipment (because that's pretty much what the were). The first time we lost power in the computer room, and tried to bring it/them back up, all the fuses blew. The AT&T techs looked astonished, and asked if we lost power often (in a switching office, battery backups ensured that power was never lost). We told them power went down every few months. They showed us how to power things up by removing all the fuses, then using a charging device (we called it the fuse-gooser) to charge up a capacitor, insert a fuse, and repeat until all the fuses had been reinstalled. Eventually, one of our people discovered an (undocumented, of course) dial which could be used to ramp the voltage up from 0 to full, so we didn't have to go through the fuse routine. "Production" versions of the 3B20's had a lead-acid battery built in. There was no floating point. (Why would a switch need floating point?). There were things I wanted to do with awk that didn't need floating point, so I just fiddled the code so AWKFLOAT was typedef-ed to int, and it darn near worked. The only hitch was a couple of appearances of "%g" in print statements. I couldn't typedef them away, but I suggested to the ANSI C folks that I could have done that if the appearance of adjacent string literals was treated as their concatenation, and they bought it. My only contribution to ANSI C, courtesy of crappy hardware. We were also gifted a 3B2. We brought it up single user, and it took 20 seconds to run a ps command. Our computers were theme-named after birds (the 3B20 pair were heckle and jeckle), so we named the 3B2 junco. Our director told us we couldn't do that, we had to play nice with the chip folks. So we renamed it jay. But we all knew what the j stood for. On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 9:16 AM, wrote: > The recent reference to the Dennis=E2=80=99s comments on ATT chip product= ion had > me feeling nostalgic to the 3B line of computers. In the late 80=E2=80= =99s I was > in charge of all the UNIX systems (among other things) at the state > university system in New Jersey. As a result we got a lot of this > hardware gifted to us. The 3B5 and 3B2s were pretty doggy compared wit= h > the stuff on the market then. The best thing I could say about the 3B5 = is > that it stood up well to having many gallons of water dumped on it (that= =E2=80=99s > another story, Rutgers had the computer center under a seven story buildi= ng > and it still had a leaky roof). The 3B20 was another thing. It was a > work of telephone company art. You knew this when it came to power it > down where you turned a knob inside the rack and held a button down until > it clicked off. This is pretty akin to how you=E2=80=99d do things on = classic > phone equipment (for instance, the same procedure is used to loopback the > old 303 =E2=80=9Cbroadband=E2=80=9D 50K modems that the Arpanet/Milnet wa= s built out > of). Of course, the 3B20 was built as phone equipment. It just got > sort of =E2=80=9Crecycled=E2=80=9D as a GP computer. > > > --0000000000001a2046056fc90b2c Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
You= just pushed my "3B button". Rudd Canaday (who had a hand in the = design of the original UNIX file system) wanted to create a message-based &= quot;Database Machine". We planned to base it on the MERT (Multi-Envir= onment Real Time) UNIX variant on VAXen, and had some of the architects of = MERT on the team with real expertise in VAX architecture. Unfortunately, ju= st as we were getting under way, the AT&T chip project needed clients, = so we were told "Thou shalt use AT&T computers".=C2=A0 Not on= ly did we have no expertise, the documentation was almost non-existent, so = the only way to learn was trial and error. They installed two 3B20-ish comp= uters that looked like racks of telephone equipment (because that's pre= tty much what the were). The first time we lost power in the computer room,= and tried to bring it/them back up, all the fuses blew. The AT&T techs= looked astonished, and asked if we lost power often (in a switching office= , battery backups ensured that power was never lost). We told them power we= nt down every few months. They showed us how to power things up by removing= all the fuses, then using a charging device (we called it the fuse-gooser)= to charge up a capacitor, insert a fuse, and repeat until all the fuses ha= d been reinstalled. Eventually, one of our people discovered an (undocument= ed, of course) dial which could be used to ramp the voltage up from 0 to fu= ll, so we didn't have to go through the fuse routine. "Production&= quot; versions of the 3B20's had a lead-acid battery built in.

There was no floating point. (Why= would a switch need floating point?). There were things I wanted to do wit= h awk that didn't need floating point, so I just fiddled the code so AW= KFLOAT was typedef-ed to int, and it darn near worked. The only hitch was a= couple of appearances of "%g" in print statements. I couldn'= t typedef them away, but I suggested to the ANSI C folks that I could have = done that if the appearance of adjacent string literals was treated as thei= r concatenation, and they bought it. My only contribution to ANSI C, courte= sy of crappy hardware.

We= were also gifted a 3B2. We brought it up single user, and it took 20 secon= ds to run a ps command. Our computers were theme-named after birds (the 3B2= 0 pair were heckle and jeckle), so we named the 3B2 junco. Our director tol= d us we couldn't do that, we had to play nice with the chip folks. So w= e renamed it jay. But we all knew what the j stood for.

On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 9= :16 AM, <ron@ronnatalie.com> wrote:

The recen= t reference to the Dennis=E2=80=99s comments on ATT chip production had me = feeling nostalgic to the 3B line of computers.=C2=A0 In the late 80=E2=80= =99s I was in charge of all the UNIX systems (among other things) at the st= ate university system in New Jersey.=C2=A0=C2=A0 As a result we got a lot o= f this hardware gifted to us.=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 The 3B5 and 3B2s were prett= y doggy compared with the stuff on the market then.=C2=A0=C2=A0 The best th= ing I could say about the 3B5 is that it stood up well to having many gallo= ns of water dumped on it (that=E2=80=99s another story, Rutgers had the com= puter center under a seven story building and it still had a leaky roof).= =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 The 3B20 was another thing.=C2=A0=C2=A0 It was a work of= telephone company art.=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 You knew this when it came to pow= er it down where you turned a knob inside the rack and held a button down u= ntil it clicked off.=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 This is pretty akin to how you=E2=80= =99d do things on classic phone equipment (for instance, the same procedure= is used to loopback the old 303 =E2=80=9Cbroadband=E2=80=9D 50K modems tha= t the Arpanet/Milnet was built out of).=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Of course, the 3B= 20 was built as phone equipment.=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 It just got sort of =E2= =80=9Crecycled=E2=80=9D as a GP computer.

=C2=A0


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