Category Archives: random updates

As part of the retrochallenge 2012, there is a PDP-11 running 2.11 BSD out there!

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No, really!

You can get an account, just sign up here!

Sander Reiche has setup a MicroPDP-11/83 with the following specs:

So far there are FOUR users.. which means you can get in on the action for sure!

For those of you who want a sandboxed version at home, you can download my install here, which of course I touched on a while back.

For those unfamiliar, here is what retrochallenge is all about!

  1. RetroChallenge commences July 1st, 2012 and runs until July 31st, 2012.
  2. In order to qualify, computer systems must by approximately 10 years old (or older!)… in general, this means 486 or below, 680×0 and pretty much everything with an 8-bit processor, but we’ll also let you in if you have an old Cray kicking about, and exceptions can always be made for exotica!
  3. Gaming consoles and PDAs qualify if they were made in the previous century.
  4. Where appropriate, replica hardware and emulators may be used.
  5. Entrants are responsible for adequately documenting their projects and submitting occasional updates during the contest.
  6. Projects may encompass any aspect of retro-computing that tickles the fancy of the individual entrant.
  7. Winners will be carefully selected and thoughtfully chosen prizes presented (hopefully before the next challenge commences).
  8. Have fun!

Sadly I don’t have anything physical around here that really qualifies.  A G5 mac is too new, and I recently picked up a Pentium 150 based IBM Aptiva, but its too new apparently….

Three tonnes of mini computers

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It looks almost religious doesn’t it?

I just received this note from the HECnet mailing list, and I thought I’d broadcast it out..

This is a shameless plug for something I and the Update Computer Club 
have been working on this spring and opened yesterday.

The exhibition "Three Tons of Minicomputers" at Museum Gustavianum in 
Uppsala, Sweden.

http://www.gustavianum.uu.se/node13

We have collected computers primarily used by the university at some 
point in time. Highlights include a Linc-8 and a DECSYSTEM-2060 with 
peripherals.

Here are some pictures from the opening:

http://www.update.uu.se/~jeppe/tmp/vernissage/

I strongly recommend anyone nearby Uppsala this summer to take a swing 
by Gustavianum. If you want a guided tour, let me know and we'll figure 
something out.

It's only open for a few months, so don't wait to long.

Regards,
Pontus.

I don’t know when I’ll be in Europe next, but now I really want to go to Sweden!

Triumph of the Nerds

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Since it’s summer time, may as well enjoy another olde computer based flick, Triumph of the Nerds.

Granted its pretty revisionist no Commodore or Atari.. I wonder if Apple PR always slipped these kinds of documentaries some uh ‘contributions’ to write out the 80’s and 90’s competition.

Well it crashed again…

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I’m going to have to do some kind of backup/restore of all my crap, and just format this VM.. bumpy rides ahead!

it’s 8PM EST and its now running in a VM in my apt…. there is more stuff I want to extract from my host VM, before I try to put things back, but in the meantime…

Apache gone wild…

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don’t you hate it when…

[3057891.088022] [<ffffffff804354a7>] io_schedule+0x5c/0x9e
[3057891.088027] [<ffffffff802648b1>] sync_page+0x3c/0x41
[3057891.088032] [<ffffffff8043561a>] __wait_on_bit_lock+0x36/0x66
[3057891.088037] [<ffffffff80264862>] __lock_page+0x5e/0x64
[3057891.088043] [<ffffffff8023f757>] wake_bit_function+0x0/0x23
[3057891.088048] [<ffffffff8026bd80>] pagevec_lookup_tag+0x1a/0x21
[3057891.088053] [<ffffffff8026a48b>] write_cache_pages+0x10c/0x2b1
[3057891.088058] [<ffffffff80269fb1>] __writepage+0x0/0x23
[3057891.088065] [<ffffffff80221555>] __wake_up_common+0x41/0x74
[3057891.088071] [<ffffffff80223845>] __wake_up+0x38/0x4f
[3057891.088076] [<ffffffff8026a673>] do_writepages+0x27/0x2d
[3057891.088082] [<ffffffff802a81f5>] __writeback_single_inode+0x181/0x2da
[3057891.088087] [<ffffffff80222e6b>] __dequeue_entity+0x25/0x69
[3057891.088092] [<ffffffff80222ec7>] set_next_entity+0x18/0x3a
[3057891.088098] [<ffffffff802a8714>] sync_sb_inodes+0x1b1/0x2b1
[3057891.088103] [<ffffffff802a8c18>] writeback_inodes+0x87/0x11c
[3057891.088108] [<ffffffff8026af30>] background_writeout+0x87/0xbb
[3057891.088114] [<ffffffff8026b432>] pdflush+0x0/0x2bc
[3057891.088121] [<ffffffff8026b608>] pdflush+0x1d6/0x2bc
[3057891.088126] [<ffffffff8026aea9>] background_writeout+0x0/0xbb
[3057891.088131] [<ffffffff8023f5fb>] kthread+0x47/0x74
[3057891.088136] [<ffffffff802282ec>] schedule_tail+0x27/0x5c
[3057891.088141] [<ffffffff8020be28>] child_rip+0xa/0x12
[3057891.088147] [<ffffffff8023f5b4>] kthread+0x0/0x74
[3057891.088151] [<ffffffff8020be1e>] child_rip+0x0/0x12
[3057891.088154]
[3057897.531668] INFO: task kjournald:553 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[3057897.531681] “echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs” disables this message.
[3057897.531687] kjournald D 000000000a10e348 0 553 2
[3057897.531694] ffff880001649e10 0000000000000246 ffff88000056f540 ffff880029848f68
[3057897.531702] ffff88003e1da9c0 ffff88003fd1a900 ffff88003e1dac40 00000000802acd7e
[3057897.531709] ffff880000000005 0000000000a884f1 0000000300000000 ffff88000000000f
[3057897.531716] Call Trace:
[3057897.531729] [<ffffffff80223845>] __wake_up+0x38/0x4f
[3057897.531740] [<ffffffffa000d00b>] :jbd:journal_commit_transaction+0x10c/0xe5d
[3057897.531748] [<ffffffff8023f729>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x2e
[3057897.531754] [<ffffffff80235cf6>] try_to_del_timer_sync+0x51/0x5a
[3057897.531763] [<ffffffffa0010bef>] :jbd:kjournald+0xd5/0x25a
[3057897.531768] [<ffffffff8023f729>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x2e
[3057897.531776] [<ffffffffa0010b1a>] :jbd:kjournald+0x0/0x25a
[3057897.531781] [<ffffffff8023f5fb>] kthread+0x47/0x74
[3057897.531786] [<ffffffff802282ec>] schedule_tail+0x27/0x5c
[3057897.531791] [<ffffffff8020be28>] child_rip+0xa/0x12
[3057897.531796] [<ffffffff8023f5b4>] kthread+0x0/0x74
[3057897.531800] [<ffffffff8020be1e>] child_rip+0x0/0x12
[3057897.531804]
[3057906.119712] INFO: task apache2:3184 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[3057906.119727] “echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs” disables this message.
[3057906.119733] apache2 D 0000000000703dc7 0 3184 1577
[3057906.119740] ffff88001c54bbd8 0000000000000282 ffff880028ea2438 ffffffff80222e6b
[3057906.119747] ffff880028ea2400 ffff88003e1da340 ffff880028ea2680 000000003f3b8a38
[3057906.119755] ffff880000000005 0000000000bcc611 ffff880001933ee0 ffff88000000000f
[3057906.119761] Call Trace:
[3057906.119773] [<ffffffff80222e6b>] __dequeue_entity+0x25/0x69
[3057906.119781] [<ffffffff8020e7bc>] get_nsec_offset+0x9/0x2c
[3057906.119786] [<ffffffff8020e818>] local_clock+0x39/0x83
[3057906.119797] [<ffffffffa000bc36>] :jbd:start_this_handle+0x26d/0x3f0
[3057906.119804] [<ffffffff8023f729>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x2e
[3057906.119812] [<ffffffffa000be54>] :jbd:journal_start+0x9b/0xd2
[3057906.119825] [<ffffffffa0020982>] :ext3:ext3_dirty_inode+0x28/0x7b
[3057906.119831] [<ffffffff802a8a1b>] __mark_inode_dirty+0x29/0x19f
[3057906.119837] [<ffffffff8029ea33>] touch_atime+0x109/0x112
[3057906.119843] [<ffffffff80266506>] generic_file_aio_read+0x44f/0x4b7
[3057906.119850] [<ffffffff8028a6bb>] do_sync_read+0xc9/0x10c
[3057906.119856] [<ffffffff8023f729>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x2e
[3057906.119862] [<ffffffff8028aeac>] vfs_read+0xaa/0x152
[3057906.119867] [<ffffffff8028b28d>] sys_read+0x45/0x6e
[3057906.119872] [<ffffffff8020b528>] system_call+0x68/0x6d
[3057906.119877] [<ffffffff8020b4c0>] system_call+0x0/0x6d
[3057906.119881]
[3057914.712397] INFO: task apache2:3222 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[3057914.712414] “echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs” disables this message.
[3057914.712420] apache2 D 001280d2005f32cf 0 3222 1577
[3057914.712428] ffff880018357bd8 0000000000000282 ffff88003cb2ce78 0000000000000000
[3057914.712436] ffff88003cb2ce40 ffff8800109a40c0 ffff88003cb2d0c0 0000000000000002
[3057914.712443] 0000000000000005 000000000098b722 0000000000000003 ffffffff0000000f
[3057914.712449] Call Trace:
[3057914.712467] [<ffffffff8020e7bc>] get_nsec_offset+0x9/0x2c
[3057914.712480] [<ffffffffa000bc36>] :jbd:start_this_handle+0x26d/0x3f0
[3057914.712488] [<ffffffff8023f729>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x2e
[3057914.712494] [<ffffffff80311f73>] __up_read+0x13/0x8a
[3057914.712502] [<ffffffffa000be54>] :jbd:journal_start+0x9b/0xd2
[3057914.712516] [<ffffffffa0020982>] :ext3:ext3_dirty_inode+0x28/0x7b
[3057914.712523] [<ffffffff802a8a1b>] __mark_inode_dirty+0x29/0x19f
[3057914.712529] [<ffffffff8029ea33>] touch_atime+0x109/0x112
[3057914.712535] [<ffffffff80266506>] generic_file_aio_read+0x44f/0x4b7
[3057914.712543] [<ffffffff8028a6bb>] do_sync_read+0xc9/0x10c
[3057914.712548] [<ffffffff8023f729>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x2e
[3057914.712555] [<ffffffff8028aeac>] vfs_read+0xaa/0x152
[3057914.712560] [<ffffffff8028b28d>] sys_read+0x45/0x6e
[3057914.712565] [<ffffffff8020b528>] system_call+0x68/0x6d
[3057914.712569] [<ffffffff8020b4c0>] system_call+0x0/0x6d
[3057914.712573]
[3057938.332843] INFO: task apache2:3241 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[3057938.332859] “echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs” disables this message.
[3057938.332865] apache2 D 00000000005ee63f 0 3241 1577
[3057938.332873] ffff8800096d9bd8 0000000000000282 ffff880034d91638 ffffffff80222e6b
[3057938.332880] ffff880034d91600 ffff8800109a40c0 ffff880034d91880 0000000015389438
[3057938.332888] ffff880000000005 000000000098b722 ffff880001933ee0 ffff88000000000f
[3057938.332894] Call Trace:
[3057938.332911] [<ffffffff80222e6b>] __dequeue_entity+0x25/0x69
[3057938.332920] [<ffffffff8020e7bc>] get_nsec_offset+0x9/0x2c
[3057938.332925] [<ffffffff8020e818>] local_clock+0x39/0x83
[3057938.332937] [<ffffffffa000bc36>] :jbd:start_this_handle+0x26d/0x3f0
[3057938.332945] [<ffffffff8023f729>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x2e
[3057938.332954] [<ffffffffa000be54>] :jbd:journal_start+0x9b/0xd2
[3057938.332968] [<ffffffffa0020982>] :ext3:ext3_dirty_inode+0x28/0x7b
[3057938.332976] [<ffffffff802a8a1b>] __mark_inode_dirty+0x29/0x19f
[3057938.332983] [<ffffffff8029ea33>] touch_atime+0x109/0x112
[3057938.332989] [<ffffffff80266506>] generic_file_aio_read+0x44f/0x4b7
[3057938.332997] [<ffffffff8028a6bb>] do_sync_read+0xc9/0x10c
[3057938.333003] [<ffffffff8023f729>] autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x2e
[3057938.333008] [<ffffffff802796d7>] vma_merge+0x104/0x18f
[3057938.333014] [<ffffffff8028aeac>] vfs_read+0xaa/0x152
[3057938.333019] [<ffffffff8028b28d>] sys_read+0x45/0x6e
[3057938.333024] [<ffffffff8020b528>] system_call+0x68/0x6d
[3057938.333028] [<ffffffff8020b4c0>] system_call+0x0/0x6d
[3057938.333032]
[3057942.627651] INFO: task apache2:1577 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
[3057942.627664] “echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs” disables this message.
[3057942.627670] apache2 D ffff88003e0837d8 0

Slow VM disk access on Qemu/SIMH or other emulators running on Windows?

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Turns out from an interesting thread on the SIMH mailing list, is that the Windows volume shadow copy service, and other ‘system’ protecting services may tag files like .dsk to be monitored, and to save a difference of every write to the file.

Yes that is right, on top of NTFS’s transaction log and rolls, you have the OS doing the same thing which in turn makes your disk access slower than hell.

The fix?

Quite simple, dont use TLA (three letter acronym) file extensions, or no extensions at all and suddenly you’ll find that your disk based emulation is significantly faster.