uhclem@trsvax.UUCP (01/19/89)
<Cross-post from comp.sys.tandy> B> 1) Has anyone ported GNU C to the 6000? If so how can we get B> executables for it? Yes it has been done. However GNU really needs more than 1 Meg of program memory. (Ram-SWAP does NOT help that much here.) B> 2) How difficult/expensive is it to add more mass storage? The hard disk drives are standard ST506/ST412-compatible drives. If you have a 16B-HD or a 6000-HD, you are limited to two drives (one internal and one external) unless you are willing to do a lot of work. If you don't have a built-in, then up to four external drives can be used. These can be up to 1024 cylinder by 8 heads. (This can be increased by other modifications.) I use a 1024x9 drive simply because it was cheaper at the time than any other 1024x8 drive around. The 1024x9 cost $559. You can use 8" or 5-1/4" hi-cap floppy drives. You can add Bernoulli boxes (Iomega removable media) to your system. It supports up to 2 8" 10-megabyte or 2 8" 20-megabyte cartridges. Increasing that to four drives is not beyond reason. The resulting cartridge format for tars is identical to that used on the 286/386 systems Tandy sells. The 8" drives aren't available from Tandy anymore, but you can get them at many mail-order computer shops. The drive is expensive $1000+, and the media runs about $70 per 10-Megabyte cartridge. You can also add SCSI hard drives and 9-track tape if you are willing to get far off the supported track. B> 3) How difficult/expensive is it to add more memory? As expensive as it is for any other machine these days. The 6000 allows up to 1 Megabyte of RAM for program space. Additional RAM can be used for a RAM-swap device. Buying the memory board (even with 0K) from Tandy is getting hard, but there are other makers of compatible memory boards out there. A MMU extension is available from a third party vendor that will allow up to four megabytes of program RAM. This extension is not quite as expensive as the RAM you will need to use it, but a cheaper solution may be on the way. Memory must be 150nsec for the 8MHZ system. B> 4) What version of Xenix is considered minimal to be used as a USENET B> node? People have been using it for USENET since the earliest V7 releases from Tandy (1.x.x). However the latest System III versions (3.2.x) is preferable. B> 5) Is it possible to add more RS232 ports to it? The basic machine has two built-in. Up until the 3.2.0 release, only one 3-port board (a total of 5 ports) was advertised although some large customers got support for a second board added. You could use it but not report problems with it. As of 3.2.0, two 3-port boards are officially supported, bringing the official total to 8 ports. A third board happens to work in 3.2. (12 ports), but that is unsupported. 6) Is it a good deal at $100? $200? If in good condition, sure. B>probably be best to respond via E-Mail. Sorry, faulty or non-existant path. Besides, too much inaccurate info has already been posted. <This information is provided by an individual and is not nor should be construed as being provided by Radio Shack or Tandy Corp. Radio Shack/Tandy Corp has no obligation to support the information provided in any way. Geez! I invented this disclaimer and now everybody uses it whenever they want.> "Thank you, Uh Clem." Frank Durda IV @ <trsvax!uhclem> ...decvax!microsoft!trsvax!uhclem ...sys1!hal6000!trsvax!uhclem
bill@bilver.UUCP (bill vermillion) (01/23/89)
In article <196500023@trsvax> uhclem@trsvax.UUCP writes: B> 2) How difficult/expensive is it to add more mass storage? >The hard disk drives are standard ST506/ST412-compatible drives. .... >These can be up to 1024 cylinder by 8 heads. (This can be increased by other >modifications.) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Care to expand on these other modifications. It surely would be handy. I am running a fairly short expire on news to keep the drives from overflowing. It would be a lot more convenient to have a couple of big drives than 4 smaller ones. -- Bill Vermillion - UUCP: {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd}!peora!rtmvax!bilver!bill : bill@bilver.UUCP