Symbolics LISP Engineering

The VAXstations I have all connect to the outside world through a DEC MMJ port. This is a 6-pin/6-conductor cable very similar to an RJ12, but with the tab offset. Apparently Thrustmaster uses a … »

While working on these VAXen, I have discovered several tools that have been extremely useful: ODS2v2: This is a tool that allows you to read/write OpenVMS 7.3 disk images. This works nicely in my … »

Well, it’s time to try a new retrocomputing effort. I’ve recently picked up several old (late 1980s, early 1990s) era Digital VAX computers and am learning how to develop software for … »

Over the past two weeks, I set up a small Symbolics LAN, and thought I would share some of the process and findings. I will write a post about each item, but the topics already concluded cover: … »

I recently set up a LAN of my three XL Symbolics machines at home. The XL1201 which was having stability issues has been largely stabilized (thanks to help from David Schmidt). I will post more about … »

I’ve decided to participate in ProcJam 2016 this year. For a change of pace, I’m building a small roguelike in Clojure with a Unity3D front-end. This is an interesting challenge as Clojure … »

In preparation of doing some actual software engineering on Genera, I decided to take a look at the CLIM implementation on my MacIvory III Genera 8.3. There are a few steps to do first: Load System … »

One of the theories about the instability of my Symbolics XL1200 is that the CPU has no heatsink and so it is suffering from thermal problems after a while. (15-30-ish minutes) David K. Schmidt was … »

Just a quick note about how to enable telnet to your MacIvory III running Genera 8.3. First, Edit Object Site NAME (obviously, use your NAME and not mine) in the Namespace Editor and add your network … »

UPDATE: No joy. Still self-reboots. So, I put the Merlin II card back into the XL1201, connected the power and console, and powered it up. Nothing. Blank screen (which means the monitor was at least … »

UPDATE: I clipped and removed the broken capacitor. Replacing it will be the task of another day. I spent two days removing, cleaning and reseating each DIP chip on the Symbolics XL1201 Merlin II Main … »

To see if I can isolate the cause of the XL1201 instability, I am going to physically inspect the two main cards with a loupe and flashlight. If I see anything suspect, I’ll take a picture with … »

Well, after living with the default keyboard mapping for Genera under X-Windows, I decided to make an optimized one for an 87-key ANSI layout. The design goals were: Utilize all the 16 top row keys … »

Just a brief hint… After you modify the file that has your translations (e.g., sys.translations), to make the new changes active, call (load-patches). Per Site Operations guide, page 514, … »

It has taken some effort, but I finally created a reasonable (and close-to-default) keyboard layout and mapping for Genera for using a modern, 87-key “tenkeyless” keyboard under Xquartz. I … »

In an effort to rule out the power supply causing the XL1201’s instability, I sent it out for overhaul by Power Clinic. After reinstalling it, I booted the XL1201 and just let it sit in the … »

Space is a premium in my little vintage computing paradise, so I had the bright idea of transplanting my MacIvory III from a desktop Quadra 650 to a tower Quadra 950 and clear some desktop space. … »

So, I learned something about the Todd MAX-354-1252 power supply in the Symbolics XL1201 today that I thought I’d share. Not that I understand it, mind you. The power supply has six trim pots. … »

As I haven’t had the time to continue to debug the XL1201 hardware problems, I turned back to the MacIvory III and an Intel i7 NUC I had. First I set up Ubuntu 14.04 on the NUC with NFS and the … »

Well, I couldn’t find MouseKey 1.0 or 1.1.1 software anywhere on the Internet. Logitech has 2.0 on their web site, and I found 1.1 elsewhere. However, the 1.1 software can’t see my mouse … »

Well, tonight I had more crashes using the XL1201. Each time the computer crashed after about 20 minutes. This indicates to me that there’s something odd going on somewhere. Before the first … »

Well, the instability on the XL1201 has been disheartening. However, I have a few suggestions and plans to see if I can figure it out. Kalman Reti would like to see backtraces to see if it’s a … »

I don’t have the time to post all the details before going to sleep, but I did a few things tonight including measure the power supply voltages, install new RAM, and have a lot of problems and … »

I have been having a hell of a time today with the XL1201. It keeps crashing to the FEP from Genera. Very frustrating. You can Continue but it will crash again very soon afterwards. Does anyone have … »

Getting the FEP display on the serial port isn’t hard - as long as you want to use the serial port built onto the console. So far I haven’t seen a way to tell the FEP to use the serial … »