Walkabout Computing - Hammerhead XRT Tablet

Over the last months I've been buying Retro tech from a gentleman in St. Paul that I met through a mutual friend.  He's been collecting for a long time and has some really interesting stuff.  I think the oldest machine I've gotten from him is an Apple IIe from 1983 but this article is about one of the newest things I've gotten, a rugged tablet computer from 2005 (a Hammerhead XRT from Walkabout Computing).

I'd never heard of this machine before he texted me an image of it and asked if I'd be interested.  I was able to find the Users Manual online, and I was intrigued.  The device is ultra-rugged for Military and other high availability applications, based on the asset tag it looks like this one was used in the airline industry.  When I got a look in person the screen was in good shape.  He didn't have the Power Adapter so I had to buy it without knowing if it would work or not but I've had good success with most of the items I've purchased from this seller so I took the risk.

On getting the unit home I used the Multimeter to probe the power pin and prove to myself that it was Center Positive, I sorted through my power supplies to try to find a 15 Volt unit, or at least a barrel jack of the right diameter.  I didn't find a 15 Volt supply with enough current but I did find the right barrel jack which allowed me to power the unit from a bench Power Supply.

The machine booted!  I was quite relieved, but it turns out that this early win soon gave way to frustration.  Taking the tablet apart I learned that the hard drive had been removed.  It uses a 2.5" 44 pin IDE Hard Drive and I have plenty of replacements so that was not problem, but I also could not figure out the hotkey to enter the BIOS.  Since this is a rugged computer, it's possible that they have this feature locked out, or it could be as simple as me not using a compatible USB Keyboard.  I was not able to find any additional technical detail online other than the Users Manual, some reviews, and a forum thread about running Linux on the tablet.

So, I was stuck with making due with whatever hardware the BIOS would recognize in its current configuration.  The machine does have a single USB port, and I was able to get the machine to boot off a USB Floppy Disk drive, and once or twice off a USB CD drive, but this was inconsistent.  I ordered a second USB 2.0 hub, thinking that I might have a compatibility issue between the BIOS and my USB hub where the machine can not discover CD drives behind the hub, but I have not tested that yet.

In the meantime, I tried to load the OS onto a Hard Drive using another machine, then move it back into the Tablet PC.  For Windows XP Tablet Edition, this did not work.  Perhaps due to differences in the HAL between the two machines, XP Locks Up on boot.  Based on another article I thought I would try an old version of Ubuntu, but long enough after this machine that it might include hardware support for the touchscreen.  I loaded Ubuntu version 10.04 (2010) on the machine, and it booted and runs great!  Such a relief to have something running on the machine, the touchscreen is working as is a USB Ethernet dongle and other USB peripherals as well...

The Specs of this machine are:

Pentium III Mobile @ 800 MHz
512 MB RAM
60 GB HDD
USB
2x PCMCIA Card Slots

Once I got the machine running, a "loose end" was to solder up a more permanent power solution.  As is probably no surprise, the batteries are completely dead on this machine and so it will remain plugged in all the time.  Through testing I determined that the machine would run fine at 12 Volts, and so I was able to find a 12 Volt 3 Amp Power Supply in storage to solder up with the barrel jack for this machine.

So, the remaining items on this machine are:  Continued experimentation to enter the BIOS of the machine and looking for additional technical information online.  Try to load Windows XP Tablet Edition on another PIII machine and see if I can get that booting, and also to find a larger Flash Based storage solution that is recognized by this BIOS (A the current time, I had only a 2GB CF Card w/ adapter, which really isn't enough storage to do anything interesting with this machine, like load the entire contents of Wikipedia in case of a Zombie apocalypse).

Let me know if you've ever used one of these machines, or if you have any background information about the Hammerhead.

Really Old Computers - Simulation Using Kits as a Path Forward

As readers of my bLog will know one of my goals in the Retro Computing hobby has been to "move back in time", learning about earlier and earlier computer systems.  Over the last couple of years as I've built my collection and interest in the hobby has increased prices have risen.  The machines that I can afford to buy (as a hobby) are of a certain age and no older.  The machines from the 70's are becoming out of reach for the average hobbyist, including the 1977 "trinity" of pre-assembled home computers; Commodore PET, Apple II, and Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1.  For machines that are older than that, the original kit built home computers like the Altair 8800, IMSAI 8080 and more obscure machines like the ones that Brad @ Tech Time Traveller covers on YouTube, prices are also quite high.  

Prior to the Home Computer revolution, computers were purchased by companies in smaller numbers and tended to be quite large, so hardware from IBM and the Seven Dwarves isn't a practical target for an individual to buy and tinker with.  Even early "Mini Computers", systems from Data General or Digital Equipment are beyond the limit for most hobbyists in terms of cost, size, and power requirements.

But, there is an option that I've recently become aware of that I've become convinced is a good way to go for those of us who are just learning and aren't yet certain if we are willing (or able) to make the commitments required.  Emulation has proliferated as one of the many benefits of the Open Source software movement, and Hardware Simulation has become easier since only the User Interface needs to be Simulated with the rest of the functionality easily emulated in Software.  There are some really lovely simulators out there now with front panels like; Adwater & Stir's AltairDuino,  High Nibble's IMSAI replica, and Oscar Vermuelen's PiDP-8 replica.

As Oscar explains on his web page one of the many advantages of pursuing the hobby in this way is that these systems are more stable and reliable than the retro computers themselves.  Learning these systems is complicated when running on actual hardware because the hardware is often breaking down due to component age.  Along withe lower cost and no risk of damaging an actual antique, I find that a quite a compelling list of arguments, so I took the plunge and got in an order for the PiDP8 project.  Based on the instructions on the website I was able to get the Pi setup and running before the hardware arrived, and I had that running as shown in my last bLog article about building what looks like a Retro terminal.

While I was waiting for the kit to arrive a friend of mine reached out about a Terminal that he had acquired as a part of a large lot of vintage gear that he had purchased.  He offered to sell it to me at a great price, an offer I couldn't refuse, so now I am the proud owner of a Digital Equipment Corporation VT-520 from 1996.  This was the last Terminal that DEC made and I believe based on the date code that this may have been one of the last of the DEC branded terminals.  I'm quite happy to have gotten it, and because it is compatible with PC keyboards that also lowers the cost of entry.  I've paired it with a very nice clicky Unicomp from 2001...

Shortly after I got the Terminal online with the Raspberry Pi computer, the PiDP8 kit hardware arrived.  The build was time consuming but very well documented. My son helped me start the build, so that was fun.  It's a great looking build as expected...

I couldn't be more pleased with the build, and I'm going to move other computers around to keep this machine easily accessible so that my learning about the operation of the machine and the software can continue.