Discussion:
[rescue] Odd duck
Bob Darlington
2018-03-13 05:14:14 UTC
Permalink
Hi guys,

My friend sent me a letter asking if I was interested in some oddball
stuff. Have any of you guys ever worked with anything like this? Is there
a place this stuff should go to live in a forever home?

I was able to donate 2 of the the 3 computers to museums. I have 1
remaining Zephyr Wavetracer Model 8 "personal supercomputers." With
them, I have support boards, cables, and some additional hardware,
software, and can reproduce the manuals upon request. One of the ones
pictured is now at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA
(http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102741568).

For images of the boards and the system you can download the zip at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdpezpozmg8n8de/ZephyrWavetracerSmall.zip?dl=0

The general organization for the images is this:

Picture of external storage box with the label visible
Picture of front of board, followed by optional close-ups
Picture of rear of board, followed by optional close-ups, esp. of
any hand-wiring
There is a picture of the 1 U Windows server that I am working to
get software off of. So the answer to the software is that there is a
good chance once I overcome the forgotten account credentials.
There are pictures of all three Zephyrs side by side (2
available), a close-up of the front, rear, and then pictures of the
wooden bases for the machines.

Would you be interested in acquiring any of the offered hardware? They
did boot and work in 2010, when they were last tested. They have one
of the most elegant assemblers for creating multi-dimensional
matrices, with the C^n language. The Processing Elements (PEs) are
connected to their immediate four neighbors with a Taurus-like wrap
around on the boards.


-Bob
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
PhreakShow Telephone Company
2018-03-13 05:43:21 UTC
Permalink
Those look epic

Where are they located?
Post by Bob Darlington
Hi guys,
My friend sent me a letter asking if I was interested in some oddball
stuff. Have any of you guys ever worked with anything like this? Is there
a place this stuff should go to live in a forever home?
I was able to donate 2 of the the 3 computers to museums. I have 1
remaining Zephyr Wavetracer Model 8 "personal supercomputers." With
them, I have support boards, cables, and some additional hardware,
software, and can reproduce the manuals upon request. One of the ones
pictured is now at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA
(http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102741568).
For images of the boards and the system you can download the zip at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdpezpozmg8n8de/ZephyrWavetracerSmall.zip?dl=0
Picture of external storage box with the label visible
Picture of front of board, followed by optional close-ups
Picture of rear of board, followed by optional close-ups, esp. of
any hand-wiring
There is a picture of the 1 U Windows server that I am working to
get software off of. So the answer to the software is that there is a
good chance once I overcome the forgotten account credentials.
There are pictures of all three Zephyrs side by side (2
available), a close-up of the front, rear, and then pictures of the
wooden bases for the machines.
Would you be interested in acquiring any of the offered hardware? They
did boot and work in 2010, when they were last tested. They have one
of the most elegant assemblers for creating multi-dimensional
matrices, with the C^n language. The Processing Elements (PEs) are
connected to their immediate four neighbors with a Taurus-like wrap
around on the boards.
-Bob
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
Matt Patoray
2018-03-13 12:32:01 UTC
Permalink
Yes where is the hardware, East Coast, West Coast, Midwest or South? I know
of a museum collection that a machine like that would fit perfectly into.

On Tue, Mar 13, 2018 at 1:43 AM, PhreakShow Telephone Company <
Post by PhreakShow Telephone Company
Those look epic
Where are they located?
Post by Bob Darlington
Hi guys,
My friend sent me a letter asking if I was interested in some oddball
stuff. Have any of you guys ever worked with anything like this? Is
there
Post by Bob Darlington
a place this stuff should go to live in a forever home?
I was able to donate 2 of the the 3 computers to museums. I have 1
remaining Zephyr Wavetracer Model 8 "personal supercomputers." With
them, I have support boards, cables, and some additional hardware,
software, and can reproduce the manuals upon request. One of the ones
pictured is now at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA
(http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102741568).
For images of the boards and the system you can download the zip at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdpezpozmg8n8de/ZephyrWavetracerSmall.zip?dl=0
Picture of external storage box with the label visible
Picture of front of board, followed by optional close-ups
Picture of rear of board, followed by optional close-ups, esp. of
any hand-wiring
There is a picture of the 1 U Windows server that I am working to
get software off of. So the answer to the software is that there is a
good chance once I overcome the forgotten account credentials.
There are pictures of all three Zephyrs side by side (2
available), a close-up of the front, rear, and then pictures of the
wooden bases for the machines.
Would you be interested in acquiring any of the offered hardware? They
did boot and work in 2010, when they were last tested. They have one
of the most elegant assemblers for creating multi-dimensional
matrices, with the C^n language. The Processing Elements (PEs) are
connected to their immediate four neighbors with a Taurus-like wrap
around on the boards.
-Bob
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
--
Matt Patoray
Owner, MSP Productions
KD8AMG
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
Bob Darlington
2018-03-13 15:01:56 UTC
Permalink
It's in Los Alamos, NM, and I believe Shannon is leaning toward Dave's
museum. He can come get my sgi stuff as well. And this is from a
university, not the national lab.
Post by Bob Darlington
Hi guys,
My friend sent me a letter asking if I was interested in some oddball
stuff. Have any of you guys ever worked with anything like this? Is there
a place this stuff should go to live in a forever home?
I was able to donate 2 of the the 3 computers to museums. I have 1 remaining
Zephyr Wavetracer Model 8 "personal supercomputers." With them, I have support
boards, cables, and some additional hardware, software, and can reproduce the
manuals upon request. One of the ones pictured is now at the Computer History
Museum in Mountain View, CA
(http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102741568).
Post by Bob Darlington
For images of the boards and the system you can download the zip at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdpezpozmg8n8de/ZephyrWavetracerSmall.zip?dl=0
Post by Bob Darlington
Picture of external storage box with the label visible
Picture of front of board, followed by optional close-ups
Picture of rear of board, followed by optional close-ups, esp. of any
hand-wiring
Post by Bob Darlington
There is a picture of the 1 U Windows server that I am working to get
software off of. So the answer to the software is that there is a good chance
once I overcome the forgotten account credentials.
Post by Bob Darlington
There are pictures of all three Zephyrs side by side (2 available), a
close-up of the front, rear, and then pictures of the wooden bases for the
machines.
Post by Bob Darlington
Would you be interested in acquiring any of the offered hardware? They did
boot and work in 2010, when they were last tested. They have one of the most
elegant assemblers for creating multi-dimensional matrices, with the C^n
language. The Processing Elements (PEs) are connected to their immediate four
neighbors with a Taurus-like wrap around on the boards.
Post by Bob Darlington
-Bob
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
Matt Patoray
2018-03-13 15:47:18 UTC
Permalink
Bob,

Yes the LSSM would be a good home for it. If it can be made to run again,
it will run. And people will be able to visit it and use it.

It looks like it came form Kent state, so if it goes to the LSSM, it will
be close to where it had lived previously.
Post by Bob Darlington
It's in Los Alamos, NM, and I believe Shannon is leaning toward Dave's
museum. He can come get my sgi stuff as well. And this is from a
university, not the national lab.
Post by Bob Darlington
Hi guys,
My friend sent me a letter asking if I was interested in some oddball
stuff. Have any of you guys ever worked with anything like this? Is
there
Post by Bob Darlington
a place this stuff should go to live in a forever home?
I was able to donate 2 of the the 3 computers to museums. I have 1
remaining
Zephyr Wavetracer Model 8 "personal supercomputers." With them, I have support
boards, cables, and some additional hardware, software, and can reproduce the
manuals upon request. One of the ones pictured is now at the Computer History
Museum in Mountain View, CA
(http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102741568).
Post by Bob Darlington
For images of the boards and the system you can download the zip at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdpezpozmg8n8de/ZephyrWavetracerSmall.zip?dl=0
Post by Bob Darlington
Picture of external storage box with the label visible
Picture of front of board, followed by optional close-ups
Picture of rear of board, followed by optional close-ups, esp. of any
hand-wiring
Post by Bob Darlington
There is a picture of the 1 U Windows server that I am working to get
software off of. So the answer to the software is that there is a good chance
once I overcome the forgotten account credentials.
Post by Bob Darlington
There are pictures of all three Zephyrs side by side (2 available), a
close-up of the front, rear, and then pictures of the wooden bases for the
machines.
Post by Bob Darlington
Would you be interested in acquiring any of the offered hardware? They
did
boot and work in 2010, when they were last tested. They have one of the most
elegant assemblers for creating multi-dimensional matrices, with the C^n
language. The Processing Elements (PEs) are connected to their immediate four
neighbors with a Taurus-like wrap around on the boards.
Post by Bob Darlington
-Bob
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
--
Matt Patoray
Owner, MSP Productions
KD8AMG
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
Patrick Giagnocavo
2018-03-13 16:57:50 UTC
Permalink
I think it would be pretty interesting to see what the hardware could do, even today, were it at the LSSM.

There is plenty of C code that could be tried out on it, like a ray tracing program, fractal explorer, etc. I am sure.

The Propeller chip is 8 simple chips each with 2KB local RAM, pretty similar (but limited to 8 cores total, not 4096) https://www.parallax.com/product/p8x32a-d40 ; still used today for embedded applications.

Cheers Patrick

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Patoray" <***@gmail.com>
To: "The Rescue List" <***@sunhelp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 9:47:18 AM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain
Subject: Re: [rescue] Odd duck

Bob,

Yes the LSSM would be a good home for it. If it can be made to run again,
it will run. And people will be able to visit it and use it.

It looks like it came form Kent state, so if it goes to the LSSM, it will
be close to where it had lived previously.
Post by Bob Darlington
It's in Los Alamos, NM, and I believe Shannon is leaning toward Dave's
museum. He can come get my sgi stuff as well. And this is from a
university, not the national lab.
Post by Bob Darlington
Hi guys,
My friend sent me a letter asking if I was interested in some oddball
stuff. Have any of you guys ever worked with anything like this? Is
there
Post by Bob Darlington
a place this stuff should go to live in a forever home?
I was able to donate 2 of the the 3 computers to museums. I have 1
remaining
Zephyr Wavetracer Model 8 "personal supercomputers." With them, I have
support
boards, cables, and some additional hardware, software, and can reproduce
the
manuals upon request. One of the ones pictured is now at the Computer
History
Museum in Mountain View, CA
(http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102741568).
Post by Bob Darlington
For images of the boards and the system you can download the zip at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdpezpozmg8n8de/ZephyrWavetracerSmall.zip?dl=0
Post by Bob Darlington
Picture of external storage box with the label visible
Picture of front of board, followed by optional close-ups
Picture of rear of board, followed by optional close-ups, esp. of any
hand-wiring
Post by Bob Darlington
There is a picture of the 1 U Windows server that I am working to get
software off of. So the answer to the software is that there is a good
chance
once I overcome the forgotten account credentials.
Post by Bob Darlington
There are pictures of all three Zephyrs side by side (2 available), a
close-up of the front, rear, and then pictures of the wooden bases for the
machines.
Post by Bob Darlington
Would you be interested in acquiring any of the offered hardware? They
did
boot and work in 2010, when they were last tested. They have one of the
most
elegant assemblers for creating multi-dimensional matrices, with the C^n
language. The Processing Elements (PEs) are connected to their immediate
four
neighbors with a Taurus-like wrap around on the boards.
Post by Bob Darlington
-Bob
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
--
Matt Patoray
Owner, MSP Productions
KD8AMG
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
PhreakShow Telephone Company
2018-03-13 17:33:49 UTC
Permalink
Awesome Glad to see its finding a good home. Thats the eventual goal of
the SGI origin we have here is to get it into a museum.
Post by Patrick Giagnocavo
I think it would be pretty interesting to see what the hardware could do,
even today, were it at the LSSM.
There is plenty of C code that could be tried out on it, like a ray
tracing program, fractal explorer, etc. I am sure.
The Propeller chip is 8 simple chips each with 2KB local RAM, pretty
similar (but limited to 8 cores total, not 4096)
https://www.parallax.com/product/p8x32a-d40 ; still used today for
embedded applications.
Cheers Patrick
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 9:47:18 AM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain
Subject: Re: [rescue] Odd duck
Bob,
Yes the LSSM would be a good home for it. If it can be made to run again,
it will run. And people will be able to visit it and use it.
It looks like it came form Kent state, so if it goes to the LSSM, it will
be close to where it had lived previously.
Post by Bob Darlington
It's in Los Alamos, NM, and I believe Shannon is leaning toward Dave's
museum. He can come get my sgi stuff as well. And this is from a
university, not the national lab.
Post by Bob Darlington
Hi guys,
My friend sent me a letter asking if I was interested in some oddball
stuff. Have any of you guys ever worked with anything like this? Is
there
Post by Bob Darlington
a place this stuff should go to live in a forever home?
I was able to donate 2 of the the 3 computers to museums. I have 1
remaining
Zephyr Wavetracer Model 8 "personal supercomputers." With them, I have
support
boards, cables, and some additional hardware, software, and can reproduce
the
manuals upon request. One of the ones pictured is now at the Computer
History
Museum in Mountain View, CA
(http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102741568).
Post by Bob Darlington
For images of the boards and the system you can download the zip at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdpezpozmg8n8de/ZephyrWavetracerSmall.zip?dl=0
Post by Bob Darlington
Picture of external storage box with the label visible
Picture of front of board, followed by optional close-ups
Picture of rear of board, followed by optional close-ups, esp. of
any
Post by Bob Darlington
hand-wiring
Post by Bob Darlington
There is a picture of the 1 U Windows server that I am working to
get
Post by Bob Darlington
software off of. So the answer to the software is that there is a good
chance
once I overcome the forgotten account credentials.
Post by Bob Darlington
There are pictures of all three Zephyrs side by side (2
available), a
Post by Bob Darlington
close-up of the front, rear, and then pictures of the wooden bases for
the
Post by Bob Darlington
machines.
Post by Bob Darlington
Would you be interested in acquiring any of the offered hardware? They
did
boot and work in 2010, when they were last tested. They have one of the
most
elegant assemblers for creating multi-dimensional matrices, with the C^n
language. The Processing Elements (PEs) are connected to their immediate
four
neighbors with a Taurus-like wrap around on the boards.
Post by Bob Darlington
-Bob
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
--
Matt Patoray
Owner, MSP Productions
KD8AMG
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
_______________________________________________
rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue

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