Date   : Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:38:43 +0100
From   : robert@... (Rob)
Subject: happy bunny

2009/7/16 Alex Taylor <zeem.uk@...>:
> 2009/7/15 Michael Foot <mjfoot@...>:
>
>> I take them apart first too, just to check for obvious issues.
>
> after - on dismantling I found a staple on the motherboard :-(
>

I think I'll definitely pull things apart and clean them out - having
got everything inside now - pictures at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40265619 at N06/sets/72157621390994963/
- it's obvious that in the nearly 20 years these have been in storage,
they have suffered a little.  The floppy drives have suffered worse- a
few bits of obvious rust on the cases of a couple, and the double
cumana drive has all the paintwork bubbling up through corrosion
underneath, but I'm not worried too much as I've got plenty of drives!
 The fix screws on the Model B had rusty washers, but inside it looked
fine, if somewhat dusty.  No spiders, yet, surprisingly..

All in all, a nice range of kit and software, plus lots of docs on how
the network was set up (5 nets, pity no bridges came through) and
troubleshooting guides, instructions how to fire up the fileservers,
how to log on and select the menus, etc.  A very interesting snapshot
of how econet was in use in the school.  Three of the drives still had
floppies still in them!  Almost as if they were all swept up and
thrown out while the kids were still sat at them!


I think it's also worth preserving the fileserver data as-is.  What
would be the best way of imaging the drives, before I try and fire up
the servers themselves?  I've got a couple of scsi cards I can pop in
a PC to connect them up to - would it be as simple as firing up a *nix
system and dd'ing it off, or are we going to get the same issues with
sector sizes we do with Beeb discs?

Cheers,

Rob