thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (07/16/89)
Sigh. After spending over 6 hours attempting to get this posting out to all the individual respondents to my original postings, I'm frustrated. PORTAL, at a flat fee of $10/month, has a menu-driven interface that does (very nicely) what it was designed to do, but no access is provided to the underlying UNIX. There simply is NO "mailing-list" capability, and the few emails I've already sent out have been to addresses that bounce (esp. Bob Ames; since WHEN is "harvard" on a path between northern and southern California? Sheesh! I simply CANNOT afford to spend the next 6-8 hours re-uploading this file 158 times at 2400 baud to send ONE-BY-ONE individual email to each of the 158 people that responded. The original reason for requesting email response has been satisfied (see the posting below), so it seems best to post this to the unix-pc.general and comp.sys.att newsgroups as THE final call for participation. All details are in the last part of this posting. Because of the unexpected delays getting THIS posting out, I'll wait until Monday, July 24, 1989 for all checks to arrive. That is the cutoff date. Since US Mail takes about 2-3 days from the East Coast to the West Coast, this should be ample time to place your order and expect it to arrive here if you act promptly. I do not expect to repeat this offer. I'm sorry for the already-delayed posting of this, the final offer (#^%#%$%^ Usenet email bouncing AND the PORTAL limitations), and I will compare all orders that arrive against the email that I've received to date to be sure no-one gets left out. If you haven't sent email expressing your desire for the WD2010, no problem, as NOW is the time to send your order in. I will place the bulk order on the afternoon of the 24th, and I should receive the chips within 3-4 days, at which time I start sending them out to those who sent me their checks. Again, because this is THE "Call For Orders", you should use the US Mail to respond since you will NEED to send me a check; reasons detailed below. Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ] ----------------------------Form Letter Posting------------------------------ Hello! All pricing details for the group buy of the WD2010 chips for the UNIXPC are now finalized. As I previously stated, the negotiated "raw" price per chip from the present vendor is almost $20 less than what I was able to arrange from Anthem. The "raw" price, however, does NOT include the costs of getting the chips to me (shipping, sales tax, etc.) and the additional shipping, packaging materials, mailing labels, etc. of getting the chips to YOU. What this "group buy" permits is the bulk purchase of the chips with all costs shared among the participants. This started as a venture by several members of the UNIXPC SIG of the AT&T Computer Users' Group, South Bay Chapter (Silicon Valley), who needed the chips for their own systems, and has blossomed into a correspondingly "good deal" for all UNIXPC owners/users reading the Usenet newsgroups; this is NOT a commercial operation and no-one (except the chip vendor, presumably! :-) is making a profit on the transaction. My postings asking you to respond have served the purpose of establishing a "ballpark" figure to give me a bargaining position in the negotiations with the vendor who IS sympathetic to computer user groups and to those owning "orphan" computers. There is no need to send further email stating your interest; THIS posting is THE call to respond by US Mail with your checks for the actual buy. I have to ask for cash in advance since I need to know the PRECISE quantity of chips to order, and I have to deliver a certified check to the chip vendor before receiving the chips. My plan is to order a FEW spare chips to have in reserve; the quantity of spares will be ONLY that needed to fill the last tube since the vendor won't "break" tubes (they are a large wholesale house and will NOT deal in onesies and twosies), so please don't expect there to be any chips at these prices a month from now. Payment will have to be in USA funds; personal checks preferred. I cannot handle credit card billing, so don't try! If you must use an (International) Money Order, please BE SURE it's something that I can process without hassle at my local branch of Bank of America; if the bank says "Huh? What's that?" then your order will NOT be filled and I'll have to return <whatever> to you. Repeating: ALL prices quoted are in USA dollars and include everything needed to get the items to you in the USA. Please try to locate a USA mail drop if you're ordering from Canada, Mexico, or Europe (to keep things simple for me), or add whatever you know is appropriate for First Class mailing to your location. I can NOT handle foreign currency conversion; the nearest American Express office is, I believe, 45 miles away in San Francisco, and they charge an arm-and-a-leg (which is why I still have some CAN$40 from my last trip to Vancouver). With all the above said, the remainder of this posting contains: * WHAT'S AVAILABLE * HOW TO ORDER * ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS I'VE RECEIVED ================ WHAT'S AVAILABLE ================ Two items are available: the WD2010 chip itself, and the extended s4diag program (if you didn't get it from my net posting a few weeks ago). The WD2010 chip is the enhanced disk drive controller chip which, in the UNIXPC, will permit use of disk drives having more than 1024 cylinders. The WD2010 chip, by itself, will NOT permit use of drives possessing more than 8 heads; for THAT capability you need the P5.1 motherboard modification which is available from other sources such as ICUS (a set of instructions) and, soon, John Milton (a complete kit). With BOTH the WD2010 and the P5.1 modification, you can use, for example, a Maxtor XT2190 with your system; the Maxtor XT2190 drive has 15 heads and 1224 cylinders. A typical drive that benefits from the WD2010 is the Miniscribe 3085; this is a half-height, 5-1/4" drive, possessing 7 heads and 1170 cylinders which, when mounted in a 7300, gives the 7300 the same disk capacity as the Miniscribe 6085 drive does in the larger 3B1 models: 67MB. A list of drives known to function in the UNIXPC is periodically posted to the newsgroups, and you should restrict your buying decision to those drives unless you know what you're doing. Along with the chip purchase, I'll include instructions detailing the opening of your system, the removal of the existing WD1010 chip, the insertion of the WD2010 chip, the closing of your system, and brief instructions how to reformat with a larger drive. In all cases I've tested so far with the UNIXPC, the WD2010 is a pin-pin replacement for the "stock" WD1010 chip; if you desire, you could simply replace the WD1010 with the WD2010, do nothing else, and everything will operate as before. The WD2010 will NOT, per se, speed up your system; only a faster disk drive and/or additional RAM will make your system a screamer. I posted the extended s4diag software to the net recently. I hope you snarfed it as it came your way. This extended s4diag (i.e. the "Diagnostic Disk") has the necessary corrections permitting formatting, verification, and bad-block sparing of disks having > 8 heads and > 1024 cylinders; in ALL other respects it is identical to the "stock" diagnostic software. The "stock" s4diag gives the illusion of prepping a larger drive correctly, and its deceit is revealed ONLY when you attempt to make a file system on the drive (as when installing the Foundation Set). If you want a larger drive, you need BOTH the WD2010 chip and the extended s4diag (and possibly the P5.1 modification). If you were unable to capture the s4diag before it expired in news, and you positively cannot locate it at a site near you, I will make it available at cost (see HOW TO ORDER). ============ HOW TO ORDER ============ Send funds (as described above and detailed below) to: Thad Floryan 1522 Wistaria Lane Los Altos, CA 94022-7265 detailing precisely WHAT and HOW MANY you're ordering. Clearly PRINT or TYPE on your order the address to which you want the material sent; if you include a pre-printed mailing label(s), that would be greatly appreciated! All orders will be shipped by US Mail. Also include your Usenet email address in the event I need to contact you. Re: the WD2010 chips, I've already tested and discovered that I can put a max of four (4) into one mailing package. The chips will be in a sectioned anti-static tube and inserted into a Dennison POST-LITE (tm) bubble mailer. Since most people only want one or two, this is no problem; for those who want more than four (4) chips, the price list (below) reflects the additional costs. Re: an s4diag floppy, these will be separately mailed in a Dennison Floppy Disk Mailer. Please attempt to locate a copy of my recent posting before ordering the s4diag; I'm simply not equipped to do mass disk-duplication; several options are available as detailed in the price list. In the event you need to contact me in an EMERGENCY (please use your good judgment), I can be reached by telephone per: home: between 9PM PDT and 2AM PDT M-F, after 12noon PDT weekends: 415/961-5157 work: between 10AM PDT and ~7PM PDT M-F: 408/985-7100 "PDT" = Pacific Daylight Time (California), which is 3 hours earlier than EDT. If you call my home number daytime, you'll either get an answering machine and/ or the people who will answer would NOT be able to answer technical questions. If you call my work number, don't bother leaving a message if I'm not available since I should not use the office phone to return long-distance personal calls. If you have technical questions, I'd prefer you post to the newsgroup since the questions (and answers!) would probably be of interest to everyone. My Usenet address for email is: thad@cup.portal.com (OR)..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad Finally, I want to mention that the packing material required to ship the chips (and floppy(ies)) is NOT cheap. If you believe you can do better on any of the following prices, feel welcome to seek the items yourself; I'm not expecting to make a profit with this group buy, and I also do not intend to lose money! :-) WD2010 chips: QTY Total price 1 $30.00 1 chip @ $30 2 $59.00 1 chip @ $30, 2nd @ $29 3 $88.00 1 chip @ $30, 2nd & 3rd @ $29 4 $117.00 1 chip @ $30, 2nd-4th @ $29 If you want more than 4 chips, do modulo 4 arithmetic on the QTY for the pricing. For example, to order 6 chips, the price is $117 + $59 for a total of $176. The reason for this is the differential cost of the packing material and postage (by weight). By the time the chips get to me from the vendor, the "raw" price has been increased to ~$26.50. To that price I have to add additional packing, photocopy, postage, mailing label, saw blades (for sectioning the tubes), and other REAL costs, allowing a very small margin for error. If you want larger quantity AND you send ME everything needed to mail the chips to you (such that all I have to do is put the chips in a tube (or whatever), seal the package, and drop it off at the post office), I'm willing to reduce the price to $28 per chip. Note that it'll probably cost you MORE to send the return packaging to me than you'll save unless you're talking about more than 10 chips. "s4diag" diagnostic disk software: Please try to find "s4diag" in your newsgroups' directories. I'm really trying to discourage you ordering the floppy from me, but if you were unable to get it off the "net" and really need to order the disk, then each floppy will be sent in its own mailer, and the prices listed below are for quantity ONE: $5.00 if you want me to provide the floppy, mailer, etc. $4.00 if you send an already-formatted floppy (10 sectors/track) and I provide the mailer and postage. $1.00 if you send an already-formatted (10 sectors/track) floppy along with a self-addressed, stamped (45 cents) return floppy disk mailer such that all I have to do is make and verify the copy, put the disk in the mailer, and drop the package off at the post office. ================================== ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS I'VE RECEIVED ================================== First, though I know this is repetitious, it's clear that MANY people are simply NOT reading what's been already posted to the net by myself and others. The WD2010 upgrade, by itself, will ONLY permit operating a disk having more than 1024 cylinders. If you want to operate a disk having nine (9) or more heads, you MUST do the P5.1 motherboard modification. There are several "kits" available for the P5.1 modification (from other sources). One kit comprises a PAL, a socket, some jumper wires, and instructions. The "packet" from ICUS contains instructions ONLY for another P5.1 modification (a version not requiring a PAL, but, instead, common LS TTL parts) which also permits two hard drives to be operated on your UNIXPC. The "soon-to-be-available" kit from John Milton IS a true kit with all the parts for the P5.1 modification and multiple drive operation. Combining the WD2010 chip with any of the above "kits" will permit you to operate very large drives on your UNIXPC. You MUST use the enhanced s4diag for EITHER/BOTH >1024 cylinders OR >8 heads. Two cautions I feel I must repeat: 1) don't install anything in your system unless you've "comfortably" backed up your HD and all its files, and 2) do NOT attempt to install a new hard disk unless you've access to (at least) the Foundation Set floppies. You need the Foundation Set material to build a file system and bring up (at least) a minimal UNIX. If you bought a UNIXPC with the OS already installed on the HD and you don't have the floppies, then you probably shouldn't be tinkering with your system. Now, on to the questions and answers. Please note that answers to "general" questions concerning the WD2010 and this "group buy" appear in the "WHAT'S AVAILABLE" (above). Some email contained questions concerning other matters which I'll NOW finally be able to privately answer since the "search and discovery" mission re: the WD2010 has been completed! 1. Will the WD2010 work with all UNIXPCs? Probably. I've tested the WD2010 on all four of my systems (three 7300 with early date codes, and one 3B1 with a later production code). All of my systems identify themselves as either "P3..P5" or "P5.1" when booted; if your system is "something else", then I cannot give any assurances. One of my systems was a real old 512kRAM/10MB HD; it took the WD2010 without any problems and handled a Miniscribe 3085 properly. 2. Will the larger drives work with my kernel? Probably. I've tested ONLY 3.51 and 3.51a. It appears that as long as the HD was properly formatted, verified, and bad-block spared using the enhanced s4diag along with the WD2010, the UNIXPC kernel will operate just fine. I deliberately ran one system's filesystem freespace down to nothing to assure myself that all cylinders' data was properly accounted for by the software (it was! :-) 3. ... concern about the co-existence of the WD2010 chip and the various P5.1 modifications ... All these upgrades are complementary. You can choose to do ONLY what you need to do. For example, if you want to install a Miniscribe 3085 drive, you only NEED the WD2010 chip. If you want to use a Maxtor 1140 drive, you only NEED the P5.1. The Miniscribe 3085 has 7 heads and 1170 cylinders; the Maxtor 1140 has 15 heads and 918 cylinders. You'll also need the enhanced s4diag for either the WD2010 or the P5.1 4. Is the WD2010 available mailorder? I haven't seen it in any catalogs? This group buy IS the "mail order"! :-) True, I haven't seen the WD2010 chip offered ANYPLACE that's available to the "consumer", and I've been looking for over 18 months. The only sources are the large electronics distributors who simply will NOT deal with small orders, or if they can be "persuaded", will have a MINIMUM order ($$$) that simply prices the chip out of reach. Some places I've checked will charge you $100 to buy one chip; they'll also charge you the same $100 to buy TWO chips. Buy three chips, and you'll get them for $43.20 each, for a total of $129.60 *PLUS* any taxes, shipping and handling. Price tiers typically break at 1-99, 100-499, 500-999, 1000-4999, etc. The ONE chip I bought at $10.50 from ACE was a fluke; ACE is a surplus house that buys surplus and/or auctioned-off inventory, and they only had the one chip with no expectation of stocking more. 5. Do I have to buy the WD2010 if I only want the s4diag floppy? Do I have to buy the s4diag floppy if I only want the WD2010? NO to both questions. Both items are available separately. You don't NEED the s4diag unless you expect to add a larger disk (having either more than 8 heads and/or more than 1024 cylinders). If you want the P5.1 mod (more heads), get the s4diag from the same source (e.g. ICUS or (soon) John Milton). You don't NEED the WD2010 unless your disk has more cylinders. 6. Will the new chip activate the other 3 heads on my 11-head hard disk? NO. For the >8 head upgrade, you want the P5.1 motherboard modification which is available from other sources. 7. Can I buy one of these chips and just start using a 100MB drive? Depends, but it's very unlikely given the geometry of the available drives of which I'm aware. The larger drives "tend" to have more heads before they have more cylinders. Consider the following table showing the "raw" formatted data capacities of some drives that "can" be used with the UNIXPC (note that the UNIXPC only "uses" 16 sectors/track with the 17th sector being used as a spare due to the 1024-byte filesystem): MB = heads x cyls x 17 sectors/track x .512 71.3 8 1024 (Miniscribe 6085 (this is the 3B1 67MB)) 71.3 8 1024 (Maxtor XT1085) 62.4 7 1024 (Miniscribe 3085 WITHOUT the WD2010) 71.3 7 1170 (Miniscribe 3085 WITH the WD2010) 63.9 8 918 (Maxtor XT1140 WITHOUT P5.1) 119.8 15 918 (Maxtor XT1140 WITH P5.1) 71.3 8 1024 (Maxtor XT2190 WITHOUT WD2010 and WITHOUT P5.1) 85.2 8 1224 (Maxtor XT2190 WITH WD2010 and WITHOUT P5.1) 133.7 15 1024 (Maxtor XT2190 WITHOUT WD2010 and WITH P5.1) 159.8 15 1224 (Maxtor XT2190 WITH WD2010 and WITH P5.1) In this table, the Miniscribe 3085 and the Maxtor XT2190 need WD2010. In this table, the Maxtor XT1140 and XT2190 need the P5.1 mod. 8. What is the purpose of the group buy? Lower price, or is it difficult to get single quantities? Lower price AND the inability to get single quantities. 9. Is the s4diag available from "The STORE!"? NO, to the best of my knowledge. 10. Will the WD2010 chip work in the Convergent Technologies Miniframe? Is the 2010 pin-pin compatible with the 1010? Re: the Miniframe: I don't know. A friend has one (a Miniframe), but I cannot just go over there and open up that system! :-) I *DID* once briefly examine the motherboard when the system was opened up, but I cannot vouch for the chips used. Since it has been claimed that the Miniframe is binary-file-compatible with the UNIXPC, my *GUESS* would be yes, but I'd advise you to open your system and SEE what chip is being used. In the UNIXPC systems I've tested, the WD2010 is pin-pin compatible with the WD1010. The WD2010 has on-board ECC circuitry which the WD1010 does not have, and it also uses/supplies a signal on pin 4; in the UNIXPC these ever-so-slight differences do NOT cause any problem with (at least) a "P3..P5" motherboard. 11. What is the formatted capacity of the 3085? It's 1/2 height, does that mean it's possible to stick a couple of them into the 67MB-model chassis? For the capacities, see the table (above). The combination of TWO 3085 drives in the 67B-model chassis (3B1) will overtax the power supply and is NOT recommended; remember that the +12 is also used by the floppy and some other circuitry, and you SHOULD have a safety margin. If you could somehow put a heftier power supply in the system, AND develop a safe double-disk mounting bracket for the alread-cramped space, you might be able to get away with it. But my recommendation is to mount a second hard drive in an external chassis/case. Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (07/17/89)
A message I just received indicates that there may be "difficulty" locating
the existing WD1010 chip in your UNIXPC. Add the following to the recently
posted "Buy Details":
13. The markings on all the 40-pin chips on the motherboard in my machine
are <list of numbers deleted>. Which is the WD1010 or can I even use
a WD2010?
Though neither the UNIXPC REFERENCE MANUAL nor the WD data sheets
suggest a second-source part number, I just examined the IC MASTER and
discovered that Intel is a second-source of the WD1010; the Intel 82062
and the WD1010 are the only chips listed in the same "box" in the IC
MASTER. More specifically, your:
i D82062-05 (the "i" is about as tall as the chip is wide)
S52172
V542002R
WDC '83
is the part which is identical to the WD1010. The "-05" and "WDC '83"
provide the final confirmation per: "-05" for 5 megabits per second,
and the "WDC" to acknowledge Western Digital Corp ("WDC").thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (07/21/89)
One person has expressed a "compatibility" concern regarding use of the WD2010 in early-model UNIXPCs. The information I have from Western Digital claims "The WD2010 is designed to be software compatible with the WD1010." The WD2010 has additional ECC circuity, but the diagrams show the ECC (Error Correction and Control) logic conected only on the internal bus on the chip. The block and system diagrams from Western Digital for both the WD1010 and WD2010 are identical except for the extra ECC "module" in the WD2010. The WD2010 also has an "active" pin 4, but I can find nothing on the UNIXPC motherboard that connects to it. This observation is also confirmed by the UNIXPC schematics which show nothing connected to pin 4 on the WD1010/WD2010. Further examination (again) of the schematic diagrams for the UNIXPC motherboard revisions D, F and J, reveals no differences in the circuitry flanking the WD1010. However, information received from another source claims a problem with: " ... OLD 7300 with 1/2 meg of RAM. Several people have told me the old computer will have collisions between the 2 error correcting systems and will not work at all! Perhaps you could remove the old error chips from the motherboard to get around this problem. The newer versions of the computer do not seem to be affected. " As stated previously, the systems I've tested have ALL identified themselves by "P3...P5" or "P5.1" upon boot, and have all worked fine with the WD2010, including one "old" 7300 with 1/2 of RAM. If anyone in the Silicon Valley or San Francisco Peninsula area has a system that identifies itself as something other than "P3...P5" or "P5.1", I'd like to take a look at it and run some tests if a meeting can be arranged. If a problem is discovered, it's likely a simple solution can be found. Please send email to arrange a test date/time/whatever. And one note about email: some people have claimed they cannot reach me by simply "reply"ing using their mail reader. This is true, as examination of the bounced mail (forwarded to me and PORTAL by others) has shown; I've had the same problem attempting to contact others by simply using "reply". What appears to be happening is that some site(s) is(are) munging the mail paths, rendering them usuable for use replying to email. Everyone who has explicitly used one of the paths as shown in my "signature" (at the END of email) has been able to get through, and I've verified that by doing the same to email to which I've replied and which previously bounced it will also NOW get through. If you're using the "bang" paths to contact me, please be sure to include the last part as shown; some people are apparently omitting the "..!cup.portal.com" part. I've been assured the two addresses in my signature are the correct AND registered addresses, and I've also been assured that PORTAL does update its maps monthly. And for those who've ordered the s4diag disk along with the WD2010 chip(s), I've been mailing the disks out the day the orders come in (because I just KNOW I'm going to be "busy" when the chips themselves arrive here next week! :-) And I also now know why some people order from their banks the rubber stamps that say "For Deposit Only to the Account Of ..."; sheesh, I *KNEW* I forgot to do something! :-) :-) Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (07/26/89)
UNIXPC WD2010 "group buy" update (Wednesday, July 26, 1989): 1. Present (and last?) batch of s4diag disks are going out in today's mail; ran out of Dennison mailers, found an equivalent with Gould Packaging. 2. chips should be "here" Friday, 28-July-1989. With the assistance of several members of the UNIXPC SIG, all packing should be completed on Saturday and the chips "should" be mailed on Monday (31-July-1989). Some shipments to Canada and Europe will be delayed pending completion of the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) and/or Customs Declarations; am awaiting advice from several Customs Brokers. 3. Orders for 150 chips were confirmed; extra chips are ordered to fulfil the pending arrival of additional orders to which I was alerted by email or by telephone call. 4. There will be "some" additional chips available on a first-come, first-served basis. Same pricing, etc. See the "Final Call ..." posting for details of how to order. Once these are gone, that's it; any orders arriving after that point will be returned. It appears that approx. 15-20 extra chips will be available; will have a tally by this weekend. If the "Final Call ..." posting has expired in news at your site and you are still contemplating a WD2010 chip(s) for your UNIXPC, send email and I'll reply with a copy of the original posting; I really don't want to convert any unsold chips into decorative jewelry (or sumtin' :-). 5. Many thanks to those who included addressed mailing labels! 6. Don't be surprised to find a flyer(s) describing the AT&T Users' Group enclosed with your order; I'm not refusing any help, and if said help wishes to stuff the mailers with additional material, that's OK by me! :-) 7. Informal statistics: Hand-delivered checks/orders arrived in 0 days (there were four!) US Express Mail orders arrived in 1 day from postmark. US Priority Mail orders arrived in 2 days from postmark. Most First Class mail orders arrived in 2 days from postmark. The remaining First Class mail arrived in 3 days from postmark. Mailed orders from Europe haven't arrived yet. Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (07/29/89)
WD2010 group buy update (Saturday, 29-July-1989):
1. The WD2010 chips arrived at my office 4:55PM PDT Friday! The "Packing Party"
begins Saturday with the mailing expected to be Monday, July 31, 1989.
2. At this point, there is only one (1) chip left unsold, and that goes to the
next order that arrives; if you haven't already mailed your order, sorry.
I ordered twenty (20) chips OVER the number for which I had received checks
by the posted cutoff date (and I agonized over that, really) (and I almost
forgot to tally the three chips *I* needed ... the reason for the whole
group buy in the first place; sheesh, would I have looked foolish! :-).
3. One person stated his order was returned by the Post Office. Such is beyond
my power to control. I've been at the SAME address for over 23 years since
buying the place in 1966, I haven't changed my name, and the street name is
almost unique in ALL of Santa Clara County ("Silicon Valley") which includes
the cities of Palo Alto, Stanford, Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa
Clara, Cupertino, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Campbell, San Jose, Los Gatos,
Monta Vista, Moffett Field, Alviso, Milpitas, and Gilroy. So if your order
was also returned, I suggest raising hell with your local Post Office and/or
Postal Inspector. Even the orders from Europe finally arrived Friday.
4. Subsequent orders arriving from this point on will be returned. But see
item (5) below if you're still interested in WD2010 chips!
5. In discussion with the President of the South Bay (Silicon Valley) Chapter
of the AT&T Computer Users' Group (Joe Lipsig (who is employed by AT&T)), he
indicated there's a good chance the Users' Group itself may want to buy some
20-30 chips as an extension (or something) to the "group buy" that I had
privately arranged. The purpose of this is to satisfy the requirements of
those who were unable for whatever reason to participate in the original
(present) group buy. If there's ANY interest, send email expressing your
intentions and we'll attempt to work out some kind of deal and "try" to
maintain the original pricing. As much as I enjoyed "doing" this group buy,
I simply didn't expect it would consume as much of my time as it has already
taken; it has been (and is) an interesting experience, and I've gained a new
respect for people whose professional work concerns purchasing, shipping and
receiving. Any future deals will be processed directly by the Users' Group.
Thad
Thad Floryan [thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad]thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (08/04/89)
UNIXPC WD2010 chip group buy update, Thursday, 3-August-1989 Having received already 7 "emails of inquiry", here's an update answering all the questions: 1. The Saturday "Packing Party" panned out due to difficulty cutting the anti-static tubes. I insisted on using the tubes since they'd protect the chips against most conceivable forms of package-torture inflictable by the Postal Service. And don't ask about the "black foam"; that solution isn't sturdy enough (even with the bubble packaging). 2. Bandsaw, sabre saw, circular saw, radial-arm saw, hacksaw, X-Acto saw, etc. all melted and deformed the cut and produced large quantities of "plastic dust." After several trips buying new tubes (wasn't going to experiment with the tubes in which the chips arrived) and with the advice of one nameless customer at one electronics store, we hit upon a hi-tech solution: a "hot knife." I built this Wednesday (2-August-1989) using .008" diameter NiCr (nichrome) wire spring loaded in a wood frame and fed by a 2A 5VDC power supply; took 60 minutes to make the 400+ cuts and packing is now being completed as I write this. The cuts are "clean" though some may appear scorched. Most of the "QTY=1" orders are in tube segments OTHER than Western Digital's own tubes; by the time the new tubes were cut, enough empty WD tubes were "available" for cutting to the other sizes (2,3,4,5,6 and 10), so don't be surprised to read "Made in Japan", "MOTOROLA", "SONY", or other legends on the tube segments. 3. Every WD tube had chips from the same week's production; the chips were produced in 1987 and 1989. All chips are brand new and are NOT "pulls." 4. I checked one chip at random from each weeks' production using a TEXTOOL ZIF socket in one of my systems and all those tested were OK. 5. If I don't collapse from lack of sleep, the packages should be delivered to the Post Office by Friday morning, so expect to receive your orders by early next week (August 7-11). Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (08/08/89)
UNIXPC WD2010 group buy update, Monday, 7-August-1989: The packages have been being mailed since Friday, 4-August-1989. It requires the Post Office just under 2 minutes to process each one: they are ALL being shipped First Class, Insured. Even with my having filled out the "green" or "white" (for larger amounts) insurance stickers beforehand, it still requires them that time. :-( I can ONLY go to the Post Office during lunch break since the P.O. opens as I'm arriving at my office and it's closed before I leave at ~7PM. 27 packages went out Friday and 31 went out today (Monday); at this rate, all packages should be mailed by this coming Friday, 11-August-1989. All orders for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 chips are in transit; the only ones left to be posted are the orders for single chips, and the ones for "International" delivery to Canada and Europe. Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (08/10/89)
UNIXPC WD2010 group buy, update, Wednesday 9-August-1989:
Last batch of "domestic" mailings went out today! Found a branch post office
near my office whose employees were more than eager to help ... 3 USPS clerks
working in tandem and we got 'em all out today! Tomorrow (Thursday) I'll be
sending out the international orders.
Please note: ALL the packages are insured. If you don't receive your order
within a week, PLEASE let me know; I have a "mountain" of insurance forms all
cross-referenced, etc.
By the way, the "packages" are large bubble-envelopes; this ended up being the
most economical since the instructions, illustrations and other material could
all be inserted flat (no folding, no paper cuts, etc.)
Finally had a chance to have someone "debug" the accompanying instructions.
Seems familiarity breeds ... something. :-) Please add the following
instruction between instructions 10 and 11 on page 2:
10a. Disconnect the power lines to the fan(s) by squeezing down the raised tabs
on the larger "half" of the in-line red plastic connector and pulling the
two pieces apart; the larger "half" is the portion of the connector closest
to the power supply.
Thad
Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (08/13/89)
In article <275@bilver.UUCP>, bill@bilver.UUCP (Bill Vermillion) writes:
"
The packages Tad shipped should be a model for many commercial establishments.
Tad's documentation is excellent. The graphics illustrations were better than
virtually all commercial manuals I have seen.
"
Glad to hear the package(s) arrived safely! Shipping safety and clear
instructions were both top priority. There are only two things I would have
done differently, given more time and resources:
1) shrink-wrapping the anti-static tube(s) to a cardboard carrier instead of
taping the tube(s) to the paper carrier as I did; this was done to assure
the tube(s) remained centered in the bubble-envelope, and
2) building a bracket for the "hot knife" I built; this would have guaranteed
every cut (of the anti-static tubes) to be a "clean" one (also assuming a
better method of regulating the current through the nichrome wire could have
been cobbled-up quickly; as it was, I held the "knife" in my hand, and moved
an alligator clip along a steel spring until the nichrome would just glow
along its entire length).
Also, the line drawings of the UNIXPC and the motherboard are reproductions from
various UNIXPC manuals (I've bought numerous packages for the system, so I have
a wide selection of material from which to choose). I really agonized over
using those drawings, however, because some artist(s) at AT&T really did a
first-class job and I didn't know whom to credit. The arrows pointing to the
items of interest are mine, though! :-)
Seriously, I did do some simpler drawings as HPGL (Hewlett-Packard Graphics
Language) objects, and they plotted-out nicely and clearly, but time was running
out (delays cutting the anti-static tubes) and the software I was doing to
"wrap" text around the plotted images simply wasn't (and isn't) ready, which is
why I cut and pasted (using scissors and rubber cement) photocopies of the
drawings from some UNIXPC documentation.
In any event, I am sincerely happy to hear that people are pleased with how the
WD2010 chip group buy worked out. I looked at this as one way of repaying, in
spirit, the people who selflessly helped me some 20+ years ago when I was
getting started with computers. And you wouldn't believe how far MY jaw dropped
when I discovered that one of those people, Syd Reid, is now assigned to our
Users' Group as an AT&T Technical Consultant. Small world!
Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]tkacik@rphroy.UUCP (Tom Tkacik) (08/18/89)
In article <358@heurikon.UUCP> dklann@heurikon.UUCP (David Klann) writes: >Bill Vermillion publicly thanks Thad ... >I just want to add my Public thanks too. It is time I added my thanks to Thad. (I suspect that Thad will be getting public and private praise for quite a while. Thad, was it worth the effort just for this? :-) I installed the WD2010 into a standard 7300, and can verify that it makes the disk drive work better. After installing Lenny's errnotify(1) command, I have been seeing at least 3 or 4 disk errors a day. If I was doing anything, it would go up. Compiling gcc could generate about 20 or 30 errors. Since installing the WD2010, I have had a total of 2, (its been about a week). One of those was an attempt to cause errors. I was compiling both gdb2.5 and gdb3.0 simultaneously. The disk did not stop making noise for over and hour. Before I would have expected many. It must be the error correction circuitry. I recommend the change even if you are not using a big disk. (Who knows, maybe someday you will. :-)) --- Tom Tkacik GM Research Labs, Warren MI 48090 uunet!edsews!rphroy!megatron!tkacik "If you can't stand the bugs, stay out of the roach-motel." Ron Guilmette -- --- Tom Tkacik GM Research Labs, Warren MI 48090 uunet!edsews!rphroy!megatron!tkacik "If you can't stand the bugs, stay out of the roach-motel." Ron Guilmette
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (09/03/89)
UNIXPC WD2010 group buy update, 2-Sept-1989. Whew. Double whew! It NOW appears everyone has received their ordered chips. Seems the USPS has again deserved being called "US Snail". Of packages mailed the SAME day from the SAME post office near my office in California, one took only 2 days to get to Ohio and another required 18 days to get to Florida; and these were ALL First Class. Seems some were being treated by some post offices along the way as "parcel post". :-( If you haven't received your chips by now, let me know. Also, it appears that two chips (of the 180) are defective (per reports from two people). Since I don't have any spares for exchange, I'm going to contact the vendor on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday) and see what can be arranged. If you haven't tried your chip(s) yet, please see if you can find the time to do so in the near future, and let it run in your system for at least 30 minutes, and report via email to me if there are any problems. Again, to be safe, do a file backup before swapping chips "just in case". Thad Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]