All it takes is one posting and then a veritable "flood" of articles start
coming forth...
As a new owner of a used UltraLite (1702), I have spent the past month
getting used to the thing, setting it up the way I want, and reading the
archives of this mailing list. Now to address a few topics that were
discussed earlier:
1) Floppy drives for the UltraLite: I contacted JEM Computers (617/254-5500)
and ordered a "refurbished" drive from them. Their current price was $79.
I've had it for about one month and have noticed no problems. It has
turned out to be quite useful.
2) I just ordered a replaceable rechargable battery, also from JEM. Their
current price is $59. I thought I'd order an extra one in case/if the
one in my UltraLite starts acting up.
3) The elusive 9-pin DIN connector (for the external serial port): After
reading the archives, I couldn't believe that this thing was that hard
to find. I thought, "Surely Fry's must have these!" (Fry's (Electronics)
is an electronics store here in Silicon Valley.) I stopped by there
(in Sunnyvale, CA) yesterday, and sure enough, they had them!! I bought
one (all of $1.79) even though I didn't need it, just to make sure it
fits and everything -- it fits fine!
Well, that's all for now,
Larry Ader ...!amdahl!echidna!lra
P.S.: My "real computer" is a Sun ELC. I've hacked together a few programs
to allow transferring of files between the UltraLite and the ELC. I
have even written a few scripts to back up the whole disk on the
UltraLite to the ELC. I use "dsz" on the UltraLite and a wrapper
around "rz/sz" on the ELC. I then directly connect the serial line
from the UltraLite to one of the serail ports on the ELC. In this
way, I don't need any modems, and I can transfer files as fast as
the slowest serial device in the link will allow. (In this case,
the Sun is the slowest one, allowing reliable transfers at speeds
up to 38,400 bps.) Let me know if you're interested in it, and I
can desribe it, provide source, etc. in more detail...