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#1
General Discussion / Re: List of NeXT related resou...
Last post by Rhetorica - Today at 10:23 PMThe unirc site does seem like it might have some unique content in it, very tempting!
However, I will say that the German magazine NEXTTOYOU (and its APPSTOYOU diskmag) is already preserved here: https://fsck.technology/software/NeXT/next.68k.org%20Archive/next/otto/html/pub/NEXTTOYOU/
I would highly recommend spending an afternoon looking through https://fsck.technology/software/NeXT/next.68k.org%20Archive/next/otto/html/pub/index.html — prior to restoring the tu-berlin collection, it was the only real collection of Rhapsody software that I knew of; all the PEAK mirrors seem to strip it out.
However, I will say that the German magazine NEXTTOYOU (and its APPSTOYOU diskmag) is already preserved here: https://fsck.technology/software/NeXT/next.68k.org%20Archive/next/otto/html/pub/NEXTTOYOU/
I would highly recommend spending an afternoon looking through https://fsck.technology/software/NeXT/next.68k.org%20Archive/next/otto/html/pub/index.html — prior to restoring the tu-berlin collection, it was the only real collection of Rhapsody software that I knew of; all the PEAK mirrors seem to strip it out.
#2
General Discussion / Re: List of NeXT related resou...
Last post by ptek - Today at 09:59 PMQuote from: wmlive on Today at 08:00 PMBrowsing through web.archive.org/web/20171103135832/http://download.unirc.eu/OpenStep/ reveals a huge treasure trove of general interest.
But how to recursively download the whole thing from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine?
Here is a working solution: github.com/StrawberryMaster/wayback-machine-downloader.
I'm glad other people are finding this archive useful. It's a big collection and I don't know how else we would have been able to find that archive since it is no longer online.
#3
General Discussion / Re: List of NeXT related resou...
Last post by wmlive - Today at 08:00 PMQuote from: ptek on Today at 04:05 AMFound this website http://web.archive.org/web/20171103135832/http://download.unirc.eu/OpenStep/Soft/misc/NEXTTOYOU/97.1-Fruehjahr/APPSTOYOU/ which was mentioned on [...]Browsing through web.archive.org/web/20171103135832/http://download.unirc.eu/OpenStep/ reveals a huge treasure trove of general interest.
But how to recursively download the whole thing from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine?
Here is a working solution: github.com/StrawberryMaster/wayback-machine-downloader.
In Linux, it just requires a recent Ruby installation and can then be easily installed by just executing:
Code Select
gem install wayback_machine_downloader_straw (as described in the README). #4
General Discussion / Re: List of NeXT related resou...
Last post by jeffburg - Today at 05:00 AMoh that's cool, I didn't realize LaunchBar was built for OpenStep.
#5
General Discussion / Re: List of NeXT related resou...
Last post by ptek - Today at 04:05 AM #6
Hardware / Re: NeXTDimension VRAM error
Last post by andreas_g - Sep 28, 2025, 07:12 AMIt is interesting that the first VRAM test passes. By printing the memory access during the VRAM test using Previous I can obtain the test values.
Test 1 fills the memory with 0xaaaaaa0aaaaaaa0a doing 64-bit writes and reads them back doing 32-bit reads. This results in this pattern:
Test 2 fills the memory with growing values starting with 0x00000001 doing 32-bit writes, adding 0x00000101 with every iteration and masking the result with 0xffffff0f and then reads it back using 32-bit reads. This results in this pattern:
Test 3 fills the memory with 0x5555550055555500 doing 64-bit writes and reads them back doing 32-bit reads. This results in this pattern:
You can read and write memory with 32-bit reads and writes from ROM Monitor using the 'e' command:
'e 2e800000' reads and prints the value that is stored at address 0x2e800000 followed by a question mark. Typing '.' will stop. Typing some value will write that value to the address and print the value of the next address (0x2e800004). So for example you can do this:
Test 1 fills the memory with 0xaaaaaa0aaaaaaa0a doing 64-bit writes and reads them back doing 32-bit reads. This results in this pattern:
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2e800000: aaaaaa0a
2e800004: aaaaaa0a
2e800008: aaaaaa0a
2e80000c: aaaaaa0a
2e800010: aaaaaa0a
2e800014: aaaaaa0a
2e800018: aaaaaa0a
2e80001c: aaaaaa0a
...Test 2 fills the memory with growing values starting with 0x00000001 doing 32-bit writes, adding 0x00000101 with every iteration and masking the result with 0xffffff0f and then reads it back using 32-bit reads. This results in this pattern:
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2e800000: 00000001
2e800004: 00000102
2e800008: 00000203
2e80000c: 00000304
2e800010: 00000405
2e800014: 00000506
2e800018: 00000607
2e80001c: 00000708
2e800020: 00000809
2e800024: 0000090a
2e800028: 00000a0b
2e80002c: 00000b0c
2e800030: 00000c0d
2e800034: 00000d0e
2e800038: 00000e0f
2e80003c: 00000f00
2e800040: 00001001
2e800044: 00001102
2e800048: 00001203
2e80004c: 00001304
...
Test 3 fills the memory with 0x5555550055555500 doing 64-bit writes and reads them back doing 32-bit reads. This results in this pattern:
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2e800000: 55555500
2e800004: 55555500
2e800008: 55555500
2e80000c: 55555500
2e800010: 55555500
2e800014: 55555500
2e800018: 55555500
2e80001c: 55555500
...You can read and write memory with 32-bit reads and writes from ROM Monitor using the 'e' command:
'e 2e800000' reads and prints the value that is stored at address 0x2e800000 followed by a question mark. Typing '.' will stop. Typing some value will write that value to the address and print the value of the next address (0x2e800004). So for example you can do this:
Code Select
NeXT>e 2e800000
2e800000: 55555500? ffffffff
2e800004: 55555500? .
NeXT>e 2e800000
2e800000: ffffffff? . #7
Hardware / Re: NeXTDimension VRAM error
Last post by KennyPowers - Sep 28, 2025, 01:18 AMI'm told this board was working a month or so ago, and its configuration wasn't changed. It has 64MB of RAM installed, and that's reflected in the boot log pictured in my first post. I actually have *some* replacement VRAM chips, as well as enough sockets for all 32 of them. However, I'd rather not blindly desolder and socket all 32 chips, especially if more than one of them are bad. Also, it could be a bad chip or broken trace elsewhere. The two caps near the VRAM circled in red here were leaking before I replaced them, so it's possible they damaged something.
I did find some schematics for the ND board, but they're a little rough to read:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2fwrv75i0dstqmo04j8z2/NeXTDimension_schematics.zip?rlkey=dyy4rksu4l9xygt6v4eep2dnj&st=a5qwazqi&dl=0
The "bad bits 0x00000001" part of the error makes me think that it's saying that the first bit of the 32bit word at address 0x2e800000 is stuck. I think the 4-bit-wide VRAM chips are probably arranged in 4 banks of 8 chips that handle 32bits each. So, if I could identify the 4 banks and which chip is "first" ("first" chip handles the lowest 4 bits?) in each bank, then I'd at least have narrowed it down to 4 chips from 32. I LOVE that there are no reference markings printed on the ND board...
I did find some schematics for the ND board, but they're a little rough to read:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2fwrv75i0dstqmo04j8z2/NeXTDimension_schematics.zip?rlkey=dyy4rksu4l9xygt6v4eep2dnj&st=a5qwazqi&dl=0
Quote from: andreas_g on Sep 25, 2025, 05:11 PMI just had a closer look but unfortunately I cannot link the error message to a certain hardware failure. I think it means that one or all VRAM modules are bad. But it also might be something else.
Out of interest I tested how much RAM is necessary to run an ND board. It works with a minimum of 4 MB RAM (not to confuse with the 4 MB of VRAM on the board).
The "bad bits 0x00000001" part of the error makes me think that it's saying that the first bit of the 32bit word at address 0x2e800000 is stuck. I think the 4-bit-wide VRAM chips are probably arranged in 4 banks of 8 chips that handle 32bits each. So, if I could identify the 4 banks and which chip is "first" ("first" chip handles the lowest 4 bits?) in each bank, then I'd at least have narrowed it down to 4 chips from 32. I LOVE that there are no reference markings printed on the ND board...
#8
Software / Re: How to get Tiny.m by Simso...
Last post by Rhetorica - Sep 26, 2025, 01:45 PMQuote from: jeffburg on Sep 26, 2025, 05:30 AMI am not sure if it was in Rhapsody or not.
It was introduced in DR1:
Quote from: /NextLibrary/Documentation/NextDev/ReleaseNotes/AppKit.htmlNSBezierPath and NSAffineTransform
These two classes help provide a more complete abstraction in the Application Kit framework layer for graphics operations. NSBezierPath enables standard operations with lines, user-defined paths, and arrays of glyphs, such as stroking, filling, and clipping. It also provides simple bounds computation and hit detection methods. NSAffineTransform provides an abstraction for the graphics transformation matrix.
#9
Software / Re: How to get Tiny.m by Simso...
Last post by jeffburg - Sep 26, 2025, 05:30 AMQuote from: ptek on Sep 26, 2025, 02:55 AMInteresting, is NSBezierPath() a commonly used function on OSX? I wonder if that function is in Rhapsody DR2?
Before 10.6 or so, it was the best way to draw like "non-square" shapes. But yeah, it's not used much any more. I am not sure if it was in Rhapsody or not.
#10
Software / Re: Sybase SQL Server 4.0.1 on...
Last post by ptek - Sep 26, 2025, 03:46 AMAdded basic tutorial instructions in first post, knowing my previous attempts there is probably missing stages 