My newly acquired Xerox Alto is shipping to me tomorrow, Can't wait to get it!!! Will upload pics and video as soon as I get it, and maybe even be lucky enough to get it to fire up!
Wow, I can't wait to see pics. :D [/list]
How the *hell* did you find an alto? I've been wanting to get my hands on one of those for years. Please post lots of pics :D
An ALTO?!
Holy crap. It's the machine of legends!
yeah I do feel VERY LUCKY to have found it, but trust me I paid dearly for it (plus $450 for freight, YIKES).
My goal is to get it working, I am hopeful but terrified at the same time, because if I encounter issues there is no documentation, peer assistance, forums or parts to help me repair it.
I plan on video taping the entire process, starting with the unveiling, will keep you all posted!
Quote from: "sdinet"yeah I do feel VERY LUCKY to have found it, but trust me I paid dearly for it (plus $450 for freight, YIKES).
My goal is to get it working, I am hopeful but terrified at the same time, because if I encounter issues there is no documentation, peer assistance, forums or parts to help me repair it.
I plan on video taping the entire process, starting with the unveiling, will keep you all posted!
Know I know why you have been selling some Cubes. :lol:
tj
How very cool, well done, surly a milestone and has got to be the centerpiece of the collection.
I'm sure if you need any additional assistance, Bruce Damer of the digibarn has at least one Alto II in his collection as well as some software. It's possible he might also have some knowledge on the Alto as well.
alto arrived today!!! I need some advice, any best practices on how to safely reform the power supply using a variac? Some say slowly turn from 10% to 100% power in 10 seconds, others say increment 5% ever 30mins, others say 5% increments every 2 hours and allow 30mins for the power supply to cool off in between each increment....
ok, I got it fired up and reformed, the voltages appear to be stable! But now I am completely stuck, just a warm humming sound and blank screen. I think I need some professional assistance =(
Blank as in what? No picture at all or picture with a cursor?
If I'm not mistaken, you need the OS disk pack to boot off of.
Yes you are correct, I need to boot via the Disk first. And there lies my problem. It appears the CRT and the Alto is in GOOD working order, however it appears there is something in need of repair with the Series 30 Disk Drive, I smell a burnt resistor somewhere, but cannot visually locate it. My next step will be to find the bad component via a multimeter, will keep everyone posted! Videos/Photos to come soon!