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Dan Neely wrote: I'm honestly mildly surprised that such drives are still available new at all.
I still have a box somewhere (granted, not new) with half a dozen CDROM drives with a SCSI interface. And as many spare caddies (link for those who aren't aware these were a thing)
modified 26-Oct-18 12:46pm.
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That's funny.
The first time I showed a relative of mine the process of burning a CD he was expecting to see sparks.
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How old was your relative?
I was probably 8 or 10 at the time of my story.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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I don't recall, but he was an adult...
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You could maybe use a SATA to IDE adapter / converter?
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Do they really exist?
The other way around: Yes. To be able to access old IDE disks from newer computers with SATA interface only - that makes sense. (Although I think most IDE-to-something are IDE-to-USB, rather than SATA).
Is there really a market for converters to make a modern SATA disk work on a PC so old that it doesn't have a SATA interface? If it doesn't have SATA (or to few SATAs), most users would plug the SATA disk into a SATA-to-USB interface, e.g. to access it from a portable that may be quite up-to-date, but doesn't have the physical space for another SATA disk. The only real need for SATA-to-IDE is for computers so old that they haven't got a USB interface. I've got one of those in my private computer museum, but I don't think I will ever connect a SATA disk to it!
While a SATA-to-IDE adapter would be technically feasible, I doubt that it would be commercially feasible.
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I stumbled over an interesting (Australian) website and found this:
Quote: The problem we are now facing is that this all requires some logistical problems to be solved. The most important one of which is that there are not one hundred thousand 1802 microprocessor chips on planet Earth. So we are working with a Chinese electronics manufacturing company who already has ties to Intersil to re-produce the CDP1802. This is good news for all 1802 hobbyists, because the chips will now be readily available at very affordable prices. (yes, customers will eventually see the savings reflected in product prices)
And the good news on top of that is that, whilst we are re-producing the 1802, we are also going to re-produce the rarer than hens' teeth, Unobtainium CDP1861 Pixie display chip, and the other CDP18XX display and sound chips, so now those will also be available again. Also at very affordable prices. Expect new products to be available soon that will use these new-old chips. (no more pseudo-1861s) So the good news keeps getting better.
Jurassic Park is in Australia? They probably found mosquitos in amber, which had bitten CDP18XX chips and plan to extract the DNA?
I will patiently wait to see where this goes. I think you can still order the CDP1802 as a high reliability processor at a horrendous price of about 200 bucks each, but that would probably be a little too expensive. If it must be an imitation, it should be a good one. White ceramic packages[^] and golden contacts. And you guys will get none of mine!
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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I never programmed the 1802, but I sort of long back to the days when you could follow every bit inside the machine, know where it was flowing, and why. You had full control. You knew what was happening.
I started computer studies when 16-bit minis were the norm. The student lab got hold of a retired Nord-10 computer for our hobby projects, with super-fancy interrupt system, advanced memory management. We had full source listing of the OS; it was an interactive multiuser, real time OS, a full file system, yet only about 60K source lines. We could trace every system call. When I had something not working as explected, a fellow student asked in dead earnest: Have you single stepped through the microcode to trace what goes on? That was fully possible, but I think he was the only one doing it.
Or: For a few weeks, during heavy construction work, disks had to be turned off at nighttime; they couldn't handle the vibrations. That didn't stop one student group developing a game: They loaded all their stuff into memory before the "Turn off disk" alarm went off, and replaced the interrupt handlers of the OS with their own, mimicking all the system services that their game required for running, so they could run a full memory resident system with disks turned off.
Those were the days... Try to get anything even close to similar fingertip control with a latest-generation IA64 CPU. Not even with Linux will you know everything that is going on in the OS (oh, Linux guys will claim that it is poosible, but that is only in theory!); with Windows it is completely impossible.
For a period, about 6-8 years ago, again I got the feeling of total control, when I programmed 8051 chips, with no OS support. (We made our own monitor.) When we switched to ARM chips, programming did become a lot easier, but it was the first move to again loose control. The monitor became far more complex; none of the developers can explain in detail more than their little corner of it. Now it is being replaced by a fullblown OS, mostly developed by others.
For my hobby activities, I strive to reduce complexity, to keep control as much as possible. I won't go as far back as to the 1802, but playing around with Arduinos gives more satisfaction than fighting to understand WPF event routing. 
So I can very well undertstand those who take the KISS principle literally, and go for 1802.
Bonus chatter:
When I was a boy, I din't pick apart alarm clocks, but (cheap) cameras. Then, $10 Instamatic 126-format cameras (which was all a ten year old could spare) had two exposure alternatives: "Sunny" and "Cloudy". The handbook claimed it was 1/60 and 1/30 sec. Picking the camera apart, I learned how winding to the next frame would buckle a spring that, when the shutter release button was pressed, would kick away the black metal tounge behind the lens for a brief exposure, before bouncing back and locking in the covering position.
Now if I set the switch for "Sunny", a small pin was moved into the bouncing path of the metal tounge. So, it didn't move as far but bounced back (on this pin) earlier that when the pin was retracted. That was the entire mechanism for providing two shutter speeds: A pin in the path of the metal tounge. I was truly amazed at the extreme simplicity.
I guess precision was so-and-so, and I wouldn't want something like that in my $2000 SLR. Yet I am still fascinated by how super simple solutions can do the job. (With an Instamatic 50, it really didnt matter if shutter speed was 1/60 or 1/100 sec; it was most likely several f-stops away from the "correct" exposure in any case).
If an 1802 will do, why use a 3.6 GHz 12-core IA64 CPU for the task?
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Cus' in 'Murica, why use a jeweler's hammer when 15 pound sledge will still work. 
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
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That sounds a lot like Chris' description of the CodeProject server cluster I read over 20 years ago. In fact, it sounds like someone is planning an upgrade!
Will Rogers never met me.
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Roger Wright wrote: That sounds a lot like Chris' description of the CodeProject server cluster I read over 20 years ago. In fact, it sounds like someone is planning an upgrade!
CP turns 19 on 15-11-2018 Western Hemisphere dates, of course here the the more futuristic Eastern Hemisphere we're a day advanced.
CP was born on my (Eastern Hemisphere date) 31st birthday. So a bits a maths should tell you how old I am in 20 days when our birthdays come around again.
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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I rounded up - so shoot me! 
It still sounds like the original description of the server, though I think we were using obsolete palm pads or some such. The 1802s ought to be a huge improvement.
Will Rogers never met me.
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My silly comp keeps acting up on me...
Should I reboot it or kick it again?
"If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going"
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You should always boot it or you'll hurt your toes with the kick.
Actually, then, if you've taken off your footware, reboot yourself and then kick it.
| Ravings en masse^ |
|---|
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Still Corners - The Message[^]
Coming up with a SOTW has never been this difficult.
Not because there aren't any, but because there are too much!
I had to pick between some doom metal, anime soundtracks (yes, that's plural), and this one.
I went with Still Corners, not because I've been listening to it on repeat, but because this song made such an impression on me that I've been listening to them for an entire evening.
And then another evening, and another one.
Maybe it's not so much this track that I love, but Still Corners in general.
They play some sort of indie chillout dreampop, which is great music for any evening!
And it's also good music for SOTW, enjoy! 
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She has a good voice! 
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Really nice … I am sure I will come back to listen to them, again and again ...
But, just a while ago I was brought by YT to this masterpiece
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iF7lkXKHlA
Amazing track, never heard of them before ...
Cheers,
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Spotify recommended that to me last week!
I didn't listen to it then, but I'm listening to it now, and wow.
This is different than what I expected.
It's dark and classical, kind of darkwave.
This is definitely going into my library
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Helping a 'friend' reinstall win 7.... from a DVD! (he insisted, came with the machine)
I forgot how long that takes. anyhoo done that, finally.
Told him can't get the extra device drivers till Monday.
Sheesh, it is Friday mate.... there's a beer with my name on it at home.
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lopati: roaming wrote: Sheesh, it is Friday mate
Keeping the sabbath holy, huh?
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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lopati: roaming wrote: Helping a 'friend' reinstall win 7.... from a DVD! (he insisted, came with the machine)
I forgot how long that takes. anyhoo done that, finally.
If you think that took long...just wait until you start installing updates for it.
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